Research: ‘Mommy brain’ is real, but it might be beneficial
Psychologist and mother of three Alison Kravit has, on occasion, forgotten the word “therapy.”
Hollie Swire, a licensed independent clinical social worker and new mother of one, has set off for day care without the bag of her son’s clothes and bottles.
Christina Moran, a stay-at-home mom of three who has master’s degrees in nursing and public health, worries she won’t be able to process information quickly or express herself succinctly when she goes back to work. “It’s a very uncomfortable feeling,” she said.
All are experiencing the foggy thinking and bouts of forgetfulness commonly known by such cutesy and patronizing terms as “mommy brain,” “baby brain,” “pregnancy brain” or “momnesia.”
Neuroscience, which has long studied the effect of pregnancy on animal brains, has finally turned its attention to the effect on the human brain — and the results are challenging commonly held assumptions about women’s intellectual abilities during and after pregnancy. This is prompting researchers to call for a reassessment of the concept of mommy brain, if not an entire overhaul.
“It’s Time to Rebrand Mommy Brain,” asserts a recent commentary in JAMA Neurology written by neuroscientists Clare McCormack, Bridget Callaghan and Jodi Pawluski (whose French-language book about mommy brain “superpowers” is being translated into English). Rather than focusing on the alleged deficits of mommy brain, they argue, science should highlight the positive adaptations that occur when a human mother gives birth.
During pregnancy, research has shown, the human brain undergoes an extraordinary period of reorganization — known as neuroplasticity. “If you were looking at this data through the lens of baby brain as a negative thing, at first glance it can sound a little alarming,” said McCormack, a research assistant professor in child and adolescent psychiatry at NYU Langone Health. But studies indicate that “this degree of change is actually really important, and it’s associated with more optimal caregiving behavior and better adjustment to this big transition.”
The plasticity of women’s brains during pregnancy is similar to during adolescence, McCormack and her colleagues said. Both involve “hormonally mediated shifts in attention, motivation, cognition, and behavior necessary for adaptation to the new demands of life,” they wrote in the commentary.
“It makes sense that brains are really, really plastic during that time because there’s so many new things we need to learn [in order] to live with this wonderful creature,” said Liisa Galea, a neuroscientist who has called for the issue of mommy brain to be revisited. She is the Treliving Family chair in women’s mental health team at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Canada’s largest mental health hospital.
For example, MRIs show gray matter volume is reduced after pregnancy in certain areas of women’s brains and is increased in others. The areas of the brain where reduction occurs correspond to the areas involved in decoding mental states in ourselves and others, prompting researchers to theorize that this makes these areas more efficient. Studies show that mothers with these brain changes are more attached and attuned to their infants. These changes last two years or longer.
“Just because we’re pruning down doesn’t mean it’s bad. It’s actually good because we’re wiring new and different connections,” said Galea, who also leads the Women’s Health Research Cluster at the University of British Columbia. “Because we have to learn about those infant cries. We have to learn how to juggle more things. We have to be less selfish.”
While concerns about mental fogginess should not be dismissed, McCormack said, those experiences, as well as research studies, might be influenced by what she and her colleagues call the “inescapable narrative” of mommy brain.
“Animal studies for a long time have asked the question of, ‘Oh, wow, how did this animal develop this new skill set and learn how to be a parent?’ ” she said. “And in women and humans, it’s actually been a really different framing of the question. It’s been, ‘Why are moms forgetful?’ ”
Although as many as 80% of pregnant women have said they experience cognitive problems when going about their daily lives, lab research has shown only minor negative effects on some areas of cognition.
Furthermore, Galea noted, those results seem to be affected by a number of factors, including the trimester of the pregnancy, the sex of the baby and how many children the woman has given birth to.
Galea said these women should not be overly concerned about their forgetfulness because research shows that a new mother’s memory gradually improves. Studies also suggest that, in middle age, women who have given birth have better memories than women who have not.
“I think we have to stop thinking about these things as positive and negative, just that they are natural,” Galea said. “I think what is not fair is to say, ‘Oh, it’s all in your head.’ You want to reassure people that, ‘Hey, this is a normal thing.’ ”