Introducing the brain: changes in pregnancy (Introduction)

by David Turell , Saturday, May 11, 2024, 17:06 (12 days ago) @ David Turell

A single woman studied:

https://www.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/bhuH2BpnoFDjX3K8WJlA-WSJNewsPaper-5-11-2...

"And so she slid into an MRI tube 26 times beginning three weeks before conception, approximately every two weeks during her pregnancy and periodically for two years after
she gave birth to find out. The changes were profound. The gray matter—the cells
that form the cerebral cortex and are responsible for emotion, reasoning, language and
other processes—shrank. The cortex thinned. Total brain volume decreased. But the strength of the brain’s white matter—the connections that transmit information between brain cells—
increased, something that had never before been observed.

***

"Previous studies that examined the brain before and after pregnancy had detected changes in gray matter volume and cortical thickness because those changes persist after birth. But changes to white matter hadn’t been detected because, the new study indicates, it returns to its pre-pregnancy levels postpartum. “This data is so unique, it doesn’t exist yet,” Jacobs
said.

"The remodeling of the brain is just one of the changes a woman’s body experiences during pregnancy. The amount of blood circulating in her body increases by 50%. Oxygen consumption rises by about 20%. Hormones including estrogen and progesterone flood her system at levels 100 to 1,000 times greater than normal.

***

"...other studies have revealed that the remodeling happens in areas important for social cognition, and the changes correspond with increased parental attachment. “We have data indicating an association between neuroanatomical changes and maternal attachment,” said Susana Carmona, a senior researcher in the neuromaternal lab at the Hospital General
Gregorio Marañón in Madrid and one of the first to document how pregnancy changes
the human brain. “The more the brain changes during pregnancy, the higher the mother scores on maternal attachment tests,” she said. “Now, we are trying to figure out the route
through which these gray matter volume changes translate into improvements in maternal attachment.”

Comment: During pregnancy all the mother is requires to do is tolerate the body changes. But once the baby arrives her life changes wildly. The baby is helpless, fragile, and demands constant attention. Only when the infant sleeps is there some respite. Thankfully they sleep for long periods. Same old question, how did the brain changes develop/evolve? They appear purposefully well before the arrival, a prime example of future planning. Design is the best explanation.