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| Home > Articles > Published articles > Do Pregnancy-Induced Brain Changes Reverse? : |
(Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón. Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón (IiSGM)) (Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón. Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón (IiSGM)) (Universitat Ramon Llull. Institut de Salut Mental Vidal i Barraquer) (Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón. Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón (IiSGM)) (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Psiquiatria i de Medicina Legal) (Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Deu. CSMA Ciutat Vella) (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Bioingeniería e Ingeniería Aeroespacial) (Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón. Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón (IiSGM)) (Institut Hospital del Mar d'Investigacions Mèdiques) (Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón. Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón (IiSGM)) (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Psiquiatria i de Medicina Legal) (Leiden University. Brain and Development Research Center) (Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón. Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón (IiSGM))
| Date: | 2021 |
| Abstract: | Neuroimaging researchers commonly assume that the brain of a mother is comparable to that of a nulliparous woman. However, pregnancy leads to pronounced gray matter volume reductions in the mother's brain, which have been associated with maternal attachment towards the baby. Beyond two years postpartum, no study has explored whether these brain changes are maintained or instead return to pre-pregnancy levels. The present study tested whether gray matter volume reductions detected in primiparous women are still present six years after parturition. Using data from a unique, prospective neuroimaging study, we compared the gray matter volume of 25 primiparous and 22 nulliparous women across three sessions: before conception (n = 25/22), during the first months of postpartum (n = 25/21), and at six years after parturition (n = 7/5). We found that most of the pregnancy-induced gray matter volume reductions persist six years after parturition (classifying women as having been pregnant or not with 91. 67% of total accuracy). We also found that brain changes at six years postpartum are associated with measures of mother-to-infant attachment. These findings open the possibility that pregnancy-induced brain changes are permanent and encourage neuroimaging studies to routinely include pregnancy-related information as a relevant demographic variable. |
| Grants: | Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación RTI2018-093952-B-10 Instituto de Salud Carlos III CP16/00096 Instituto de Salud Carlos III PI17/00064 Instituto de Salud Carlos III FI18/00255 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad SEV-2015-0505 |
| Rights: | Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.  |
| Language: | Anglès |
| Document: | Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada |
| Subject: | Pregnancy ; Maternal brain ; Magnetic resonance imaging ; Neuroplasticity ; Postpartum |
| Published in: | Brain sciences, Vol. 11 Núm. 2 (2021) , p. 168, ISSN 2076-3425 |
