A study led by the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) has analyzed for the first time – using neuroimaging techniques – the brains of women during pregnancy and has detected changes in 94% of the gray matter of your brain.
The work, published in the magazine Nature Communicationsincludes non-pregnant mothersthe couples whose couples were pregnant, to distinguish the biological effects from those caused by the experience of being a mother, as reported by the UAB in a statement this Friday.
The findings reveal a “dynamic trajectory” in the mother’s brain during pregnancy and postpartum, significantly linked to the hormonal fluctuations typical of pregnancy and the psychological well-being of mothers.
Association with estrogens
Researchers have analyzed the brain of 179 women. They have detected that, during the first pregnancy, the volume of gray matter in the brain is reduced to a 4.9%especially in regions linked to social cognition.
The study also demonstrates, for the first time, that the evolution of these changes is associated with fluctuations in two estrogens, hormones that increase “exponentially” during pregnancy and return to basal levels after childbirth.
Specifically, it was observed that a greater increase and subsequent decrease in estrogen levels is related to a decrease and subsequent recovery of the volume of gray matter in the brain.
The more gray matter, the greater the bond
When analyzing the possible influence of brain changes with the maternal behaviorthe study has found that those women with a higher percentage of gray matter recovery reported a “greater bond” with their baby six months after giving birth.
They have also discovered that mother’s well-being is a “key” factor that significantly enhances the association between brain changes and the mother-child bond.
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