Summary: Pregnancy causes a 4.9% reduction in gray matter volume in 94% of the brain, with partial recovery after delivery, mainly in regions linked to social cognition. A groundbreaking neuroimaging study analyzed brain changes in 179 women, including non-gestational mothers, revealing that these changes are biologically driven by pregnancy hormones rather than the experience of motherhood.
Hormonal fluctuations in estriol-3 sulfate and estrone sulfate correlate with changes in gray matter, and postpartum recovery is linked to a stronger mother-infant bond. This research provides an essential reference for understanding the maternal brain and its implications for maternal mental health.
Key facts:
Source: UAB
A UAB-led study analyzed the brains of women during pregnancy for the first time using neuroimaging techniques.
The study included non-pregnant mothers, whose partners were pregnant, to distinguish biological effects from those caused by the experience of being a mother.
Research shows that there is a reduction and partial recovery of almost 5% of gray matter in 94% of the total brain gray matter volume, particularly in regions related to social cognition.
Researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), the Gregorio Marañón Health Research Institute and the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, as well as other prestigious international institutions, have published the first longitudinal neuroimaging (magnetic resonance imaging) study in a cohort of more than a hundred women seeking to become mothers for the first time.
The results reveal a dynamic trajectory in the brain during pregnancy and after delivery, significantly linked to fluctuations in steroid hormones inherent to pregnancy and to the psychological well-being of mothers.
The article, led by Camila Servin-Barthet and Magdalena Martínez-García as first authors and coordinated by Òscar Vilarroya and Susana Carmona, was recently published in the prestigious journal Natural communications.
This study, which received a grant of 972,414 euros from the “la Caixa” Foundation, represents a crucial advance in research on the maternal brain.
In total, researchers analyzed the brains of 179 women to study the structural changes that occur during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy and the first six months postpartum, using a scan performed before conception as a reference. .
For the first time, this cohort includes a group of non-gestational mothers as a control group: women whose partners experienced a pregnancy during the study.
The inclusion of this group of women helped determine that the trajectory of brain changes is primarily attributed to the biological process of pregnancy, rather than the experience of becoming a mother.
This work revealed that during the first pregnancy, the volume of gray matter in the brain is reduced by up to 4.9%, with partial recovery during the postpartum period. These changes are observed in 94% of the brain, and are particularly marked in regions linked to social cognition.
The study also demonstrates, for the first time, that the evolution of these morphological changes in the brain is associated with fluctuations in two estrogens (estriol-3-sulfate and estrone-sulfate), hormones that increase exponentially during pregnancy and return to baseline levels. after delivery.
Specifically, researchers observed that a greater increase and subsequent decrease in estrogen levels are associated with a greater decrease and subsequent recovery in brain gray matter volume.
Finally, by analyzing the possible influence of brain changes on maternal behavior, this study found that women with a higher percentage of gray matter volume recovery during postpartum reported a stronger bond with their infant at 6 months postpartum, and that maternal well-being was an important factor. key factor that positively enhances the association between brain changes and maternal-daughter bonding.
This study, which comprehensively characterizes normative brain changes during pregnancy and postpartum, stands out both for its sample size and for rigorous methodological control, including carefully selected groups that made it possible to distinguish the changes specific to pregnancy from those related to the experience of motherhood.
The data obtained not only constitute a key reference for understanding the neurobiology of the maternal brain, but also serve as a basis for future studies analyzing other neuroimaging modalities and more diverse samples, including women suffering from clinical conditions such as depression. postpartum, thus allowing progress towards a more complete and applied understanding of the brain in this vital period.
Author: Octavi Lopez
Source: UAB
Contact: Octavi Lopez – UAB
Picture: Image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: Free access.
“Pregnancy involves a U-shaped trajectory in human brain structure linked to hormones and maternal attachment” by Oscar Vilarroya et al. Natural communications
Abstract
Pregnancy involves a U-shaped trajectory in human brain structure linked to hormones and maternal attachment
Growing evidence places the gestational period as a unique time of increased neuroplasticity in adult life.
In this longitudinal study covering before, during and after pregnancy, we unveil a U-shaped trajectory of gray matter (GM) volume, which decreases in late pregnancy and partially recovers during postpartum. These changes are greatest in brain regions associated with the default mode and the frontoparietal network.
The U-shaped trajectory is primarily related to gestational factors, as it only presents in gestational mothers and correlates with estrogen fluctuations over time.
Finally, maternal mental health status influences the relationship between postpartum GM volume recovery and maternal attachment at 6 months postpartum.
This research sheds light on the complex interplay between hormones, brain development and behavior during the transition to motherhood.
It fills an important gap in knowledge in the neuroscience of human pregnancy and opens new possibilities for interventions aimed at improving maternal health and well-being.
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