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It’s well-known that pregnancy is a time of sweeping change in a mother’s life – both emotionally and physically. However, the impact of the significant hormonal shifts during pregnancy on the brain has been less understood.
Researchers at UC Santa Barbara recently made major strides in this area by creating the first comprehensive map of the human brain throughout pregnancy.
Yes, past studies have captured the brain’s state both before and after pregnancy. Yet, according to Laura Pritschet, the study’s lead author, the pregnant brain had never been seen in the middle of this transformative process.
“We wanted to look at the trajectory of brain changes specifically within the gestational window,” she said.
For this study, the team followed a first-time mom and conducted various brain scans. They began prior to pregnancy and took place every few weeks up until she was two years postpartum.
The findings showed alterations in both gray and white matter in the brain throughout pregnancy, indicating that the brain exhibits significant neuroplasticity even in adulthood.
An advanced imaging technique enabled the team to observe dynamic brain reorganization in the first-time mother with remarkable clarity.
“Our goal was to fill the gap and understand the neurobiological changes that happen during pregnancy itself,” the study authors stated.
One of the most drastic changes observed was a decline in the volume of cortical gray matter – or the outer region of the brain. As hormone production increased throughout pregnancy, the gray matter volume decreased.
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