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Pregnancy alters woman's brain 'for at least two years'

bbc.com

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Re: Pregnancy alters woman's brain 'for at least two years'

#61

Post by majkinetor »

radicalbyte wrote: post #55

Anecdotally I can say it has a large effect on the male brain too. The lack of sleep and time changes you. You get ruthless against time stealers and start seeing 6 hours as a nice long sleep. Full disclosure : I've had about 8hr sleep in 3 days,two sick kids...

That is irrelevant as it is consequence of life style change. Many mothers do not change lifestyle.

This however makes me think how much of the woman change is due to the life style change which is mandatory in given situation for majority of mothers and how much is programmed.

Re: Pregnancy alters woman's brain 'for at least two years'

#62

Post by Pamar »

discordianfish wrote: post #59
partiallypro wrote: post #51

I always wonder about claims like this from both sides. I see people claiming pregnancy alters a woman's brain, miscarriages can cause postpartum depression, but then see claims that abortions do not effect the brain at all. The third I find hard to believe given the first two. And I know this is a touchy topic, but I am pro-choice yet find it a bit baffling that we ignore some of the science behind its effects on th…

> I see people claiming pregnancy alters a woman's brain, miscarriages can cause postpartum depression, but then see claims that abortions do not effect the brain at all. The third I find hard to believe given the first two. The reason a miscarriage can cause depression while an abortion usually does not is because the former is against a women's will and the other her choice. I find that quite obvious to be honest.

Even if the abortion is a decision by the woman I doubt it's something that has no impact on her psyche.

Re: Pregnancy alters woman's brain 'for at least two years'

#63

Post by erroneousfunk »

partiallypro wrote: post #51

I always wonder about claims like this from both sides. I see people claiming pregnancy alters a woman's brain, miscarriages can cause postpartum depression, but then see claims that abortions do not effect the brain at all. The third I find hard to believe given the first two. And I know this is a touchy topic, but I am pro-choice yet find it a bit baffling that we ignore some of the science behind its effects on th…

The only thing I've read about the subject says that women who have abortions are happier and have better mental health in the long term than women who were denied an abortion. So the study isn't "women who have never been pregnant" vs. "women who had an abortion," but the headlines can sometimes make it seem that way. "Abortions are great for mental health!"

Also, according to the CDC, two thirds of abortions happen within the first two months of pregnancy, and 92 percent within 13 weeks. When we think of devastating/traumatic miscarriages, those are generally later. Many women miscarry without even knowing it.

If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that the "average" number of weeks at which women miscarry is somewhat lower than the "average" number of weeks at which women voluntarily abort a pregnancy, although there is a long tail to the left at which spontaneous miscarriages/stillbirths happen, causing higher rates of depression and/or hormonal complications. Also, there's the non-negligible effect of actually wanting a baby, vs. not wanting to carry a child -- it can have a profound effect on how your body reacts.

Re: Pregnancy alters woman's brain 'for at least two years'

#64

Post by hueving »

nommm-nommm wrote: post #36

>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. Incomplete control group. They should have included first time adoptive mothers and women who gave their baby up for adoption. Also extremely small sample size. EDIT: It would have also been very relevant to include a sample of lesbian parents of the same child where one parent…

Better yet, lesbian twin parents where one gave birth and one didn't! Not many of those I suppose... :)

Re: Pregnancy alters woman's brain 'for at least two years'

#66

Post by erroneousfunk »

throwaway7645 wrote: post #7

My wife and I both took our Professional Engineering Exams (8 hour test that is brutally hard) and she was 6 mo pregnant and still passed while I failed. I really feel dumb now.

How does this research imply that there's any effect on a pregnant woman/new mother's ability to take a PE exam? The study talks about a gray matter reduction in small areas of the brain associated with social interaction. Based on other experiments, they further theorized that this may be a tool to help the mother quickly recognize her infant and assess its needs. Has nothing to do with engineering...

Re: Pregnancy alters woman's brain 'for at least two years'

#67

Post by erroneousfunk »

ingamx77 wrote: post #26

I had the baby while at university, and it's true. While I was always brilliant in math and physics, I couldn't do simple things anymore. That was very frustrating. Thanks god the physics professor was very forgiving as he noticed the change

It was probably more about sleep deprivation, chronic stress, and immediate reprioritization in your life, more than anything. It's hard to focus on learning new tasks when you're tired, and you're forced to confront a million new things at home.

The study just said that, in small areas of the brain, gray matter was reduced, and they theorized that this specialization helped a new mother recognize her infant and its needs. Nothing to do with math and physics.

Re: Pregnancy alters woman's brain 'for at least two years'

#68

Post by danielam »

6DM wrote: post #5

I never thought a reduction could result in an improvement. The brain is so fascinating! "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 g…

Perhaps specialization of those regions in a way that aids (that stage of) motherhood in some way?

Re: Pregnancy alters woman's brain 'for at least two years'

#69

Post by discordianfish »

Pamar wrote: post #62
discordianfish wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I see people claiming pregnancy alters a woman's brain, miscarriages can cause postpartum depression, but then see claims that abortions do not effect the brain at all. The third I find hard to believe given the first two. The reason a miscarriage can cause depression while an abortion usually does not is because the former is against a women's will and the other her choice. I find that quite obvious to be honest.

Even if the abortion is a decision by the woman I doubt it's something that has no impact on her psyche.

Nobody said that.

Re: Pregnancy alters woman's brain 'for at least two years'

#70

Post by econnors »

xkcd-sucks wrote: post #47
nommm-nommm wrote: post #36

>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. Incomplete control group. They should have included first time adoptive mothers and women who gave their baby up for adoption. Also extremely small sample size. EDIT: It would have also been very relevant to include a sample of lesbian parents of the same child where one parent…

It's a bit surprising that a Nature Neuro paper didn't have more control groups. But on the other hand, it's trickier to get ahold of first time adoptive mothers etc. And on the third hand, there's always somebody requesting increasingly specific control groups and one just has to stop and publish at some point.

Similar to open sourcing "ugly" code. At some point the benefit of releasing is worth putting out non-perfect work. If there's interest, someone can build on what you've done and fork your progress.
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