Pregnancy Induces Significant Brain Changes, New Research Reveals

How pregnancy changes the brain - Earth.com

When we consider the immense journey of pregnancy, it's no surprise that the body goes through significant changes to prepare for impending motherhood. You're likely familiar with the physical changes; from the obvious growth of the belly, to the hormonal roller coaster that triggers mood swings, cravings and morning sickness. But here's something that probably didn't make it onto your radar: pregnancy changes the brain too. The complex hormonal shifts brought on by pregnancy have a profound impact on the brain, a sphere of human anatomy that's been relatively untouched in pregnancy studies. A research team led by Professor Emily Jacobs from UC Santa Barbara, however, decided to navigate the uncharted waters to reveal an astonishing reality. The project's aim was to understand the trajectory of brain changes across the span of pregnancy. Unlike previous studies which presented before and after snapshots of the brain, this research monitored these changes as they happened. The study revolved around a first-time mother, with her brain scanned at regular intervals from pre-pregnancy through to two years postpartum. The meticulous approach allowed the researchers to record the dynamic reorganization of the participant's brain with remarkable clarity. It was a revelation, showcasing the impressive neuroplasticity of the adult brain. Perhaps the most striking finding lay in the changes in the brain's gray matter, the cerebral cortex. As the hormones kicked in during pregnancy, the team observed a notable decrease in gray matter volume. While this may sound alarm bells, the researchers highlighted that a decrease in gray matter is not necessarily a negative scenario. In fact, this fine-tuning of brain circuits is similar to what happens during puberty when adolescent brains start honing their skills. Pregnancy, therefore, appears to be another significant period of cortical refinement in adulthood. Alongside changes in gray matter, the research team discovered an increase in white matter, which is primarily responsible for communication between different brain regions. This increase peaked during the second trimester, returning to pre-pregnancy volumes around birth, providing yet another example of the brain's resilience. The remarkable transformations within the brain during pregnancy are orchestrated by a symphony of hormones, notably estrogen and progesterone. These hormones play a pivotal role in preparing the body for motherhood and are closely linked to brain adaptations. Their influence extends beyond mere anatomical changes; they are crucial in altering neural connectivity and cognitive processing. This hormonal interplay is thought to enhance emotional regulation and maternal bonding, possibly as an evolutionary mechanism to ensure the well-being of both mother and child. Researchers continue to explore this neuroendocrine symphony, seeking to uncover how these hormonal waves contribute to the holistic metamorphosis of a pregnant brain. Understanding the adaptations of the pregnant brain extends far beyond mere academic curiosity. It offers profound insights into maternal health and well-being, presenting opportunities for interventions that can support mental health during and after pregnancy. The research underscores the importance of accommodating the brain's intricate changes into healthcare practices, paving the way for more comprehensive prenatal and postnatal care. Looking forward, the field is ripe with potential, as scientists aim to delve deeper into the long-term cognitive and emotional impacts of these neurological transformations. This research offers a promising frontier in support of maternal mental health and a deeper appreciation of the complexities involved in becoming a mother. What this study essentially does is give us the first-ever map of the human brain during pregnancy. It recognizes the tremendous changes, adaptations and resilience of the maternal brain. Around 140 million women experience pregnancy each year, making this subject anything but niche. The dataset generated through this study serves as a solid foundation for future research. In particular, a better understanding of these changes could potentially help identify women at risk of postpartum depression, a condition affecting one in five women. The team is already moving forward on this path with the Maternal Brain Project, a collaborative effort spanning UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, and several research centers in Spain. "Experts in neuroscience, reproductive immunology, proteomics, and AI are joining forces to learn more than ever about the maternal brain," Jacobs said. "Together, we have an opportunity to tackle some of the most pressing and least understood problems in women's health." Professor Jacobs and her team have, in essence, pioneered a new frontier in neuroscience. With their relentless investigation and dedication to understanding the human brain, they are providing valuable insights that will undoubtedly reshape our perception of pregnancy and women's health. Like what you read? Subscribe to our newsletter for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates.

New study reveals changes in the brain throughout pregnancy

Pregnancy is a transformative time in a person's life where the body undergoes rapid physiological adaptations to prepare for motherhood -- that we all know. What has remained something of a mystery is what the sweeping hormonal shifts brought on by pregnancy are doing to the brain. Researchers in Professor Emily Jacobs' lab at UC Santa Barbara have shed light on this understudied area with the first-ever map of a human brain over the course of pregnancy. "We wanted to look at the trajectory of brain changes specifically within the gestational window," said Laura Pritschet, lead author of a paper published in Nature Neuroscience. Previous studies had taken snapshots of the brain before and after pregnancy, she said, but never have we witnessed the pregnant brain in the midst of this metamorphosis. Following one first-time mother, the researchers scanned her brain every few weeks, starting before pregnancy and continuing through two years postpartum. The data, collected in collaboration with Elizabeth Chrastil's team at UC Irvine, reveal changes in the brain's gray and white matter across gestation, suggesting that the brain is capable of astonishing neuroplasticity well into adulthood. Their precision imaging approach allowed them to capture dynamic brain reorganization in the participant in exquisite detail. This approach complements early studies that compared women's brains pre- and post-pregnancy. The authors noted, "Our goal was to fill the gap and understand the neurobiological changes that happen during pregnancy itself." The most pronounced changes the scientists found as they imaged the subject's brain over time was a decrease in cortical gray matter volume, the wrinkly outer part of the brain. Gray matter volume decreased as hormone production ramped up during pregnancy. However, a decrease in gray matter volume is not necessarily a bad thing, the scientists emphasized. This change could indicate a "fine-tuning" of brain circuits, not unlike what happens to all young adults as they transition through puberty and their brains become more specialized. Pregnancy likely reflects another period of cortical refinement. "Laura Pritschet and the study team were a tour de force, conducting a rigorous suite of analyses that generated new insights into the human brain and its incredible capacity for plasticity in adulthood," Jacobs said. Less obvious but just as significant, the researchers found prominent increases in white matter, located deeper in the brain and generally responsible for facilitating communication between brain regions. While the decrease in gray matter persisted long after giving birth, the increase in white matter was transient, peaking in the second trimester and returning to pre-pregnancy levels around the time of birth. This type of effect had never been captured previously with before-and-after scans, according to the researchers, allowing for better estimation of just how dynamic the brain can be in a relatively short period of time. "The maternal brain undergoes a choreographed change across gestation, and we are finally able to see it unfold," Jacobs said. These changes suggest that the adult brain is capable of undergoing an extended period of neuroplasticity, brain changes that may support behavioral adaptations tied to parenting. "Eighty-five percent of women experience pregnancy one or more times over their lifetime, and around 140 million women are pregnant every year," said Pritschet, who hopes to "dispel the dogma" around the fragility of women during pregnancy. She argued that the neuroscience of pregnancy should not be viewed as a niche research topic, as the findings generated through this line of work will "deepen our overall understanding of the human brain, including its aging process." The open-access dataset, available online, serves as a jumping-off point for future studies to understand whether the magnitude or pace of these brain changes hold clues about a woman's risk for postpartum depression, a neurological condition that affects roughly one in five women. "There are now FDA-approved treatments for postpartum depression," Pritschet said, "but early detection remains elusive. The more we learn about the maternal brain, the better chance we'll have to provide relief." And that is just what the authors have set out to do. Directed by Jacobs, their team is building on these early discoveries through the Maternal Brain Project. More women and their partners are being enrolled at UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, and through an international collaboration with researchers in Spain. "Experts in neuroscience, reproductive immunology, proteomics, and AI are joining forces to learn more than ever about the maternal brain," Jacobs said. "Together, we have an opportunity to tackle some of the most pressing and least understood problems in women's health."

New research reveals dynamic brain changes throughout pregnancy

University of California - Santa BarbaraSep 16 2024 Pregnancy is a transformative time in a person's life where the body undergoes rapid physiological adaptations to prepare for motherhood -; that we all know. What has remained something of a mystery is what the sweeping hormonal shifts brought on by pregnancy are doing to the brain. Researchers in Professor Emily Jacobs' lab at UC Santa Barbara have shed light on this understudied area with the first-ever map of a human brain over the course of pregnancy. "We wanted to look at the trajectory of brain changes specifically within the gestational window," said Laura Pritschet, lead author of a paper just published in Nature Neuroscience (link) . Previous studies had taken snapshots of the brain before and after pregnancy, she said, but never have we witnessed the pregnant brain in the midst of this metamorphosis. Following one first-time mother, the researchers scanned her brain every few weeks, starting before pregnancy and continuing through two years postpartum. The data, collected in collaboration with Elizabeth Chrastil's team at UC Irvine, reveal changes in the brain's gray and white matter across gestation, suggesting that the brain is capable of astonishing neuroplasticity well into adulthood. Their precision imaging approach allowed them to capture dynamic brain reorganization in the participant in exquisite detail. This approach complements early studies that compared women's brains pre- and post-pregnancy. The authors noted, "our goal was to fill the gap and understand the neurobiological changes that happen during pregnancy itself." Decrease in gray matter, increase in white matter The most pronounced changes the scientists found as they imaged the subject's brain over time was a decrease in cortical gray matter volume, the wrinkly outer part of the brain. Gray matter volume decreased as hormone production ramped up during pregnancy. However, a decrease in gray matter volume is not necessarily a bad thing, the scientists emphasized. This change could indicate a "fine-tuning" of brain circuits, not unlike what happens to all young adults as they transition through puberty and their brains become more specialized. Pregnancy likely reflects another period of cortical refinement. Laura Pritschet and the study team were a tour de force, conducting a rigorous suite of analyses that generated new insights into the human brain and its incredible capacity for plasticity in adulthood." Professor Emily Jacobs, UC Santa Barbara Less obvious but just as significant, the researchers found prominent increases in white matter, located deeper in the brain and generally responsible for facilitating communication between brain regions. While the decrease in gray matter persisted long after giving birth, the increase in white matter was transient, peaking in the second trimester and returning to pre-pregnancy levels around the time of birth. This type of effect had never been captured previously with before-and-after scans, according to the researchers, allowing for better estimation of just how dynamic the brain can be in a relatively short period of time. "The maternal brain undergoes a choreographed change across gestation, and we are finally able to see it unfold," Jacobs said. These changes suggest that the adult brain is capable of undergoing an extended period of neuroplasticity, brain changes that may support behavioral adaptations tied to parenting. "Eighty-five percent of women experience pregnancy one or more times over their lifetime, and around 140 million women are pregnant every year," said Pritschet, who hopes to "dispel the dogma" around the fragility of women during pregnancy. She argued that the neuroscience of pregnancy should not be viewed as a niche research topic, as the findings generated through this line of work will "deepen our overall understanding of the human brain, including its aging process." The open-access dataset, available online, serves as a jumping-off point for future studies to understand whether the magnitude or pace of these brain changes hold clues about a woman's risk for postpartum depression, a neurological condition that affects roughly one in five women. "There are now FDA-approved treatments for postpartum depression," Pritschet said, "but early detection remains elusive. The more we learn about the maternal brain, the better chance we'll have to provide relief." And that is just what the authors have set out to do. With support from the Ann S. Bowers Women's Brain Health Initiative, directed by Jacobs, their team is building on these early discoveries through the Maternal Brain Project. More women and their partners are being enrolled at UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, and through an international collaboration with researchers in Spain. "Experts in neuroscience, reproductive immunology, proteomics, and AI are joining forces to learn more than ever about the maternal brain," Jacobs said. "Together, we have an opportunity to tackle some of the most pressing and least understood problems in women's health." University of California - Santa Barbara Journal reference: Pritschet, L., et al. (2024). Neuroanatomical changes observed over the course of a human pregnancy. Nature Neuroscience. doi.org/10.1038/s41593-024-01741-0.

Researchers discover changes in the brain throughout pregnancy

Researchers in Professor Emily Jacobs' group at UC Santa Barbara have created the first-ever map of a human brain during pregnancy, shedding insight on this understudied area. "We wanted to look at the trajectory of brain changes specifically within the gestational window," said Laura Pritschet, lead author of a paper just published in Nature Neuroscience (link) . Previous studies had taken snapshots of the brain before and after pregnancy, she said, but never have we witnessed the pregnant brain in the midst of this metamorphosis. The researchers studied one first-time mother's brain every few weeks, beginning before pregnancy and continuing for two years after childbirth. The results, gathered in partnership with Elizabeth Chrastil's team at UC Irvine, show changes in the brain's grey and white matter throughout gestation, implying that the brain is capable of remarkable adaptability well into adulthood. Their precision imaging approach allowed them to capture dynamic brain reorganization in the participant in exquisite detail. This approach complements early studies that compared women's brains pre- and post-pregnancy. The authors noted, "our goal was to fill the gap and understand the neurobiological changes that happen during pregnancy itself." The most pronounced changes the scientists found as they imaged the subject's brain over time was a decrease in cortical gray matter volume, the wrinkly outer part of the brain. Gray matter volume decreased as hormone production ramped up during pregnancy. However, a decrease in gray matter volume is not necessarily a bad thing, the scientists emphasized. This change could indicate a "fine-tuning" of brain circuits, not unlike what happens to all young adults as they transition through puberty and their brains become more specialized. Pregnancy likely reflects another period of cortical refinement. "Laura Pritschet and the study team were a tour de force, conducting a rigorous suite of analyses that generated new insights into the human brain and its incredible capacity for plasticity in adulthood," Jacobs said. Less obvious but just as significant, the researchers found prominent increases in white matter, located deeper in the brain and generally responsible for facilitating communication between brain regions. While the decrease in gray matter persisted long after giving birth, the increase in white matter was transient, peaking in the second trimester and returning to pre-pregnancy levels around the time of birth. This type of effect had never been captured previously with before-and-after scans, according to the researchers, allowing for better estimation of just how dynamic the brain can be in a relatively short period of time. "The maternal brain undergoes a choreographed change across gestation, and we are finally able to see it unfold," Jacobs said. These changes suggest that the adult brain is capable of undergoing an extended period of neuroplasticity, brain changes that may support behavioral adaptations tied to parenting. "Eighty-five percent of women experience pregnancy one or more times over their lifetime, and around 140 million women are pregnant every year," said Pritschet, who hopes to "dispel the dogma" around the fragility of women during pregnancy. She argued that the neuroscience of pregnancy should not be viewed as a niche research topic, as the findings generated through this line of work will "deepen our overall understanding of the human brain, including its aging process." The open-access dataset, available online, serves as a jumping-off point for future studies to understand whether the magnitude or pace of these brain changes hold clues about a woman's risk for postpartum depression, a neurological condition that affects roughly one in five women. "There are now FDA-approved treatments for postpartum depression," Pritschet said, "but early detection remains elusive. The more we learn about the maternal brain, the better chance we'll have to provide relief." And that is just what the authors have set out to do. With support from the Ann S. Bowers Women's Brain Health Initiative, directed by Jacobs, their team is building on these early discoveries through the Maternal Brain Project. More women and their partners are being enrolled at UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, and through an international collaboration with researchers in Spain. "Experts in neuroscience, reproductive immunology, proteomics, and AI are joining forces to learn more than ever about the maternal brain," Jacobs said. "Together, we have an opportunity to tackle some of the most pressing and least understood problems in women's health." (ANI)