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Pregnancy Alters Woman's Brains 'For At Least Two Years' (bbc.com)

EzInKy writes: The BBC and others are reporting the results of a study that women's brains do in fact change during pregnancy. BBC reports: "Pregnancy reduces grey matter in specific parts of a woman's brain, helping her bond with her baby and prepare for the demands of motherhood. Scans of 25 first-time mums showed these structural brain changes lasted for at least two years after giving birth. European researchers said the scale of brain changes during pregnancy were akin to those seen during adolescence. But they found no evidence of women's memory deteriorating. This study, from researchers at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and Leiden University and published in Nature Neuroscience, looked at the brain scans of women before they became pregnant, soon after they gave birth, and two years later, to see how the brain changed. And they compared these women's brains with those of 19 first-time fathers, 17 men without children and 20 women who had never given birth. The researchers found 'substantial' reductions in the volume of grey matter in the brains of first-time mothers. The grey matter changes occurred in areas of the brain involved in social interactions used for attributing thoughts and feelings to other people -- known as 'theory-of-mind' tasks. The researchers thought this would give new mothers an advantage in various ways - help them recognize the needs of their child, be more aware of potential social threats and become more attached to their baby." Thanks Mom! As for first-time fathers, the researchers found no changes in their grey matter.

5 of 280 comments (clear)

  1. Oh well... by x0ra · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So much for the feminazis out there claiming that there is no difference between a male and female brain, and that what constitute gender is nothing but a social construct.

    1. Re:Oh well... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Does that mean the male brain is superior, being an evolved version of the female brain with more bits acting in concert to handle more-demanding intellectual problems; or that it is inferior, being a hobbled version with bits weakened and disconnected so as to interfere with cognition?

      Trigger warning - I'm replying about the story instead of the predictable direction the comments went.

      It isn't a matter of superior or inferior. A pregnant woman goes through a fair number of biological adjustments, and it isn't too surprising that some of them are in the brain. And a lot of men can attest to their wife becoming a rather different person after childbirth. While this may or may not present a problem for the male isn't totally relevant, as the changes are related to survival of the child on the mother's part.

      I suspect that these changes are more permanent than lasting only a couple years.

      But as to being superior or inferior, it isn't that. This goes a long way toward explaining some personality changes, and might even be tied into the unfortunate post-partum depression that affects some women.

      Mental superiority by gender is one of those ridiculous concepts just like racial superiority by some IQ test. Because even if it were somehow true, nothing could ever be determined about any individual's intelligence by looking at them and judging the intelligence by the person being male or female, light or dark skinned.

      And I don't even know how to address the weird transgender bender the discussion went on, so I'll leave it at that.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  2. Baby brain by RobinH · · Score: 5, Insightful

    All the moms around here call it "baby brain." The memory thing that most moms (and dads) experience just has to be sleep deprivation. When I did basic training they cut us back to 5 hours of sleep a night for weeks, but that was to show us that we could still function on that little sleep. When I became a father, I was getting two sessions of about 2 to 2.5 hours of sleep per night, for months. The latter was definitely much worse and affects everything - mood, work, and relationships. The mom also has (a) many more social pressures to be the "perfect" mom - (thanks Facebook), (b) tons of weird hormone changes going on, (c) physical trauma from the birth, (d) a weird combination of stress and mind numbing boredom, and (e) whatever this "baby brain" thing is. It absolutely sucks for her (and sometimes seems to manifest as anger), so she's going to take all that shit out on someone, and as the father you're the only one that's handy, so you get to grin and bear it. Over the course of several years things do improve a lot. It never goes back to the way things were though - sometimes too many things get said, too much animosity and frustration build up. People can hold grudges for a long time.

    Nobody can really be prepared for being a parent. Even if you're told all the stuff to expect, it doesn't sink in until you're actually in the situation, and at that point there's nothing you can do but take a deep breath and do your best.

    --
    "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
  3. Re:It explains the time dilation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yea, no those things have to eat every hour when they first come out and freak out when mom isn't around. The only way they get any normalcy back is through a great support structure, which comes from having a partner that doesn't make the kind of dumbass assumptions mentioned here..

  4. Re:Marxist BRAINFUCK by Maritz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The worst thing about being white is I have to share my "race" with dopey cunts like you.

    --
    I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.