Not just an old wives’ tale as new international research suggests that ‘baby brain’ could be real

IT is often talked about as the stuff of old wives’ tales, but groundbreaking international research suggests that “baby brain” could well be true.

• ‘Baby brain’ really does exist, say scientists
• Read the full report here

IT is often talked about as the stuff of old wives’ tales, but groundbreaking international research suggests that “baby brain” could well be true.

While it is common knowledge that the extreme hormone surges of pregnancy bring on major physiological changes to a woman’s body, a team of Dutch and Spanish researchers has, for the first time, been able to show that pregnancy also brings on substantial changes in the brain’s structure.

In fact, they found that pregnancy reduces the brain’s grey matter volume in the areas that are involved with social cognition, which includes thoughts and feelings.

Researchers believe that changes in the brain during pregnancy “may prepare a woman for the social demands of imminent motherhood”.

Study author Elseline Hoekzema, from the Netherlands’ Leiden University, and her colleagues examined the brains of 25 first-time mothers both before and after pregnancy to characterise pregnancy-induced structural changes in their grey matter and compared it to the brains of 19 first-time fathers, 17 men without children and 20 women who had never given birth.

They found that first-time mothers had reduced grey matter, which meant they could distinguish the brains of women who had given birth from those who had not, as well as predict the quality of a mothers’ attachment to their infants.

A follow-up imaging session showed that almost all of these grey-matter reductions were still present nearly two years after giving birth, except for a partial recovery in the region associated with memory.

“This study provides the first glimpses into the extensive changes in brain structure and function that result from first-time pregnancy,” the study writes.

“The authors suggest that these changes may prepare a woman for the social demands of imminent motherhood.”

The study’s findings are published on Tuesday in the Nature Neuroscience journal.

Flagstaff Hill PE teacher Edwina Bruce, 37, is preparing to give birth to her second child in five weeks.

She said that, in her mind, without a doubt, baby brain existed and she wasn’t surprised by the findings that her grey matter had been reduced.

Expectant mum Edwina Bruce has no doubt that baby brain is real. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

“I forget to pack things, and I get sidetracked easily,” she said.

“Or I will go shopping and I’ll come out and the one thing that I really, really needed I have completely forgotten to buy.”

Adelaide clinical child psychologist Kirrilie Smout said this study appeared to show changes in brain structures associated with pregnancy, but it didn’t show actual cognitive deficits or memory problems, just simply that the area of the brain linked with these skills does change.

“It’s not surprising the brain changes during and after pregnancy – having a child is a significant life event and it changes women in many ways – both physically and emotionally,” she said.

Originally published as Not just an old wives’ tale as new international research suggests that ‘baby brain’ could be real