Pregnancy leads to long-lasting changes in human brain structure Articles uri icon

authors

  • HOEKZEMA, ELSELINE
  • BARBA MULLER, ERIKA
  • POZZOBON, CRISTINA
  • PICADO, MARISOL
  • LUCCO, FLORENCIO
  • GARCIA GARCIA, DAVID
  • SOLIVA, JUAN CARLOS
  • TOBENA, ADOLF
  • DESCO MENENDEZ, MANUEL
  • CRONE, EVELINE A.
  • BALLESTEROS, AGUSTIN
  • CARMONA CAÑABATE, SUSANA
  • VILARROYA, ÓSCAR

publication date

  • February 2017

start page

  • 287

end page

  • 296

issue

  • 2

volume

  • 20

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 1097-6256

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1546-1726

abstract

  • Pregnancy involves radical hormone surges and biological adaptations. However, the effects of pregnancy on the human brain are virtually unknown. Here we show, using a prospective ('pre'-'post' pregnancy) study involving first-time mothers and fathers and nulliparous control groups, that pregnancy renders substantial changes in brain structure, primarily reductions in gray matter (GM) volume in regions subserving social cognition. The changes were selective for the mothers and highly consistent, correctly classifying all women as having undergone pregnancy or not in-between sessions. Interestingly, the volume reductions showed a substantial overlap with brain regions responding to the women's babies postpartum. Furthermore, the GM volume changes of pregnancy predicted measures of postpartum maternal attachment, suggestive of an adaptive process serving the transition into motherhood. Another follow-up session showed that the GM reductions endured for at least 2 years post-pregnancy. Our data provide the first evidence that pregnancy confers long-lasting changes in a woman's brain.

keywords

  • hippocampal neurogenesis; postpartum period; maternal brain; cortical thickness; pituitary-gland; surface-area; motherhood; memory; rats; preeclampsia