The study of the effects of pregnancy on parents’ brain has been gaining more attention. This also adapts to the arrival of a new human, before and after delivery. But how?
Although pregnancy is associated with changes in the mother’s body and brain – which gave rise to the famous term “pregnant brain” used on occasions of distraction or forgetfulness – Parents may also undergo brain changes as they prepare for paternity.
Both parents undergo similar changes, according to a November study at Jama Psychiatry.
Traditionally, it was thought that pregnancy affected only the mother’s brain, with changes in areas linked to nutrition and ties, but according to psychiatrists Hugo Bottemanne and Lucie Joly, studies of brain imaging showed that parents may suffer Changes in gray mass, which plays a role in motivation, decision making and emotional regulation. These changes seem to help parents adapt to their new role and responsibilities.
The investigation highlighted by Bottemanne and Joly includes one from 2014 in which parents, both experienced and rookies, underwent magnetic resonance imaging at different postpartum phases. The exams revealed an increase in gray mass in regions such as the hypothalamus and amygdalaboth associated with parental motivation and emotional response. At the same time, it was found that the gray mass decreased in areas linked to self-regulation and stress.
One more recent, 2023, quoted by supporting these conclusions even more. He compared his parents’ brains during his companion’s pregnancy and after birth with those of children without children. The parents presented changes in areas of the brain involved in empathy, attention and visual processingwhich are fundamental to parenting. Interestingly, and confirming the conclusion of the studies, these brain changes were not observed in the childless control group.
Experts believe these changes are motivated by neuroplasticity – The brain’s ability to adapt and rearrange throughout life. As the brain can adjust to a sensory loss or other changes, it can also reconfigure itself in response to new experiences such as paternity.
Although further research is needed to fully understand the extent of these brain changes, the results suggest that parents are biologically prepared to be parents in previously underestimated ways.
