For the first time, American scientists have observed the brain changes that occur before, during and after pregnancy.
- A study looked at the effects of hormonal changes associated with pregnancy on the brain of pregnant women.
- Scientists scanned a woman’s brain every week before, during and after her pregnancy.
- Imaging results demonstrated an increase in white matter and a decrease in gray matter during pregnancy.
Pregnancy is a special time with many hormonal upheavals, but their effects on the brain have remained, until now, little studied. In a recent publication, researchers from the University of Santa Barbara (United States) have taken an interest in this question and have mapped the brain of a woman before, during and after her pregnancy.
An increase in white matter during pregnancy
For the purposes of this work published in the journal Nature Neuroscience researchers scanned a pregnant woman’s brain every week, starting before her pregnancy and continuing for two years after she gave birth. They then observed changes in the gray and white matter of the patient’s brain while she was expecting her baby.
During pregnancy, the volume of cortical gray matter, responsible for sensory-motor activity and cognitive functions, was reduced when hormone production increased. Scientists say this change is not necessarily a bad sign. It could simply indicate a “fine-tuning” of brain circuits, similar to what occurs at the end of puberty.
“The maternal brain undergoes a choreographed change throughout gestation”
During this research, scientists also observed a significant increase in cortical white matter, which participates in facilitating communication between brain regions. Unlike the decrease in gray matter, which persisted long after delivery, the increase in white matter was transient. It peaked in the second trimester and returned to pre-pregnancy levels around delivery.
“The maternal brain undergoes a choreographed change throughout gestation, and we are finally able to see it unfold.”said Professor Emily Jacobs, who heads the lab in charge of the study in Santa Barbara. For the researchers, these initial findings suggest that the pregnant brain may undergo a prolonged period of neuroplasticity, in other words the brain’s ability to rrecover and restructure. Additionally, these brain changes may contribute to fapromote behavioral adaptations related to child rearing.
