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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.

2 of 280 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Baby brain by ByteSlicer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Reminds me of a study they did some years ago.
    When asked directly, parents would claim they derived much joy and happiness from their kids.
    But when asked those same parents indirectly, with some clever questions, the researchers found that the parents weren't nearly as happy as they claimed they were. Their kids caused them all kinds of stress and unhappiness.
    They concluded that those parents weren't necessarily lying during the questions, but that humans probably evolved a sort of delusional condition, so that they would believe kids made them happy, and so they kept procreating. Those that didn't have these delusions, obviously didn't have as much offspring, so there was a strong selection for the condition.

  2. Re:Oh well... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "In order to raise children with equality, we must take them away from families and communally raise them."
    -- Dr. Mary Jo Bane, feminist and assistant professor of education at Wellesley College and associate director of the school's Center for Research on Woman

    This is a feminazi.

    "You can grab them by the pussy"
    -- President Elect Donald Trump

    This is an incoming President of the United States

    Which asshole has more power to affect your world?

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.