“When I was pregnant with my first child, I thought pregnancy was a one-time, transient hormonal event, and that when [my daughter] was born, I would just go back to myself,” says Lucy Jones, a journalist and author of Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood. “But that's just not what it is at all. It’s actually the most dramatic, seismic, endocrinological, and neurobiological experience you can have in adult life.” - Dr Lucy Jones
“Moms aren’t the only ones who experience a major identity shift when they become parents.
“Science is showing that, particularly with hands-on, affectionate care, spending time with a child affects a father or a non-biological parent’s hormone levels, shape of the brain, anatomy of the brain, and response to the baby,” Jones says.
One study found the degree to which a new father’s testosterone and cortisol levels changed when his baby was born could predict how involved he’d be with his child later on. Another study found that very involved dads experienced more activation in the amygdala, the area of the brain responsible for decision-making, instinct, and the fight-or-flight response. One study also suggested foster mothers experience similar oxytocin changes as gestational mothers when bonding with their babies. ”
There are brain changes that occur during pregnancy and postpartum that could be adaptive. These brain changes are profound and more complicated that just “a reduction in gray matter.” They may actually “improve/alter” brain function and be like the incredible neuronal pruning that happens in adolescence. This period of change has been termed “maltrescence.
Key Definitions:
Neural pruning: your brain removing unnecessary neuronal connections throughout your life. Also known as “synaptic pruning.” It is thought to improve brain efficiency!
·Grey matter: Contains most of the brain’s neuronal cell bodies
·White matter: a network of nerve fibers that allows different areas of the brain to communicate and exchange information
Resources to understand these amazing brain changes:
https://www.nature.com/articles/nn.4458
These findings strongly suggest that the colloquial phases “pregnancy brain” and “mommy brain” may have a basis in the physical structure of the brain. However, based on this current study, there is no reason to suspect that these changes alter cognitive ability. It is possible that pregnancy-induced changes in gray matter are an adaptive process that helps women transition into motherhood!
Book: Matrescence by Lucy Jones
Also available on spotify to listen to
Article about book: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/matrescence-and-the-transformations-of-motherhood