Pregnancy May Change Mom’s Brain For Good
LiveScience:
Time in the womb is obviously important for the development of the fetal brain. But pregnancy is also a time for changes in Mom’s brain — changes that may prepare women to become better mothers.
These changes still are little-understood, concludes a review published in the December issue of the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science.
Pregnant women often complain about “pregnancy brain” or “mommy brain,” a memory fog that seems to produce lost car keys and misplaced cell phones. One 2010 study suggested that high levels of sex hormones could be to blame for the frustrating lapses in concentration. But in many ways, the changes that happen in a mom-to-be’s brain during pregnancy remain mysterious.
“Pregnancy is a critical period for central nervous system development in mothers,” review author Laura Glynn, a psychologist at Chapman University in California, said in a statement. “Yet we know virtually nothing about it.”
Read the whole story: LiveScience
APS regularly opens certain online articles for discussion on our website. Effective February 2021, you must be a logged-in APS member to post comments. By posting a comment, you agree to our Community Guidelines and the display of your profile information, including your name and affiliation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations present in article comments are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of APS or the article’s author. For more information, please see our Community Guidelines.
Please login with your APS account to comment.