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Unlocking Pregnancy Brain: The Why, the How, and the Wow

In the course “Dynamics of Individual Differences“, students write a blog post on a topic of their interest that is related to an aspect that differs between individuals and changes across the lifespan. Vanesa Dimitrova shared her blog post with us, enjoy the read!

Have you ever walked into a room and realized you didn’t know why you were there? Did you forget where you put your phone, and then find it in the fridge in all places? Or did you forget to take your prenatal vitamins or to bring your wallet when shopping? Such scenarios are the daily reality (or even hourly) as reported by 80% of expecting mothers (Brett & Baxendale, 2001). These memory problems, absentmindedness, distractibility, and sometimes fogginess, have been termed “pregnancy brain”, “mommy brain” or “porridge brain” in social media.

During pregnancy your body goes through a ton of changes – your hormones may be all over the place, your brain is being rewired, and worries about motherhood may prevent you from sleeping properly. Despite this and the fact that pregnancy has existed from way before our species, the effects of pregnancy on thinking and concentration have not been researched until recently, so the field is still in its infancy (pun intended, haha). So you will have the honor of reading the conclusions for some of the most recent findings, isn’t that fun!

You may be asking why those problems are even happening and whether they are normal. Do not worry I will walk you through the answers and provide you with some tips and good news. So if you are an expecting parent, planning to be, or are simply curious about the miracle of parenthood, you just have to sit and relax.

Why does the pregnancy brain exist?

During pregnancy, your body goes through a lot of hormonal changes, even more than during puberty! For example, the amount of estrogen increases 300 times (Casey et al., 1993). Hormones have been found to alter cognition, the process your brain uses to understand the world around you like thinking, learning, remembering, and problem-solving. This increase in estrogen was found to be related to problems remembering and retrieving information that you’ve heard or read, a.k.a. verbal memory recall (Glynn, 2010). Furthermore, it’s related to problems with processing speed, the speed of taking in information and responding to it (Henry & Sherwin, 2011). Taken together the findings may explain problems such as trouble following instructions or conversations. Furthermore, cortisol which is a hormone important for energy and stress management, increases significantly and contributes to the decline in verbal memory (Glynn, 2010).

The change in hormones is also related to changes in the brain, namely a reduction in grey matter (cells) in many parts of the brain (Selvin-Barthet, 2023). When tested before conception and right after birth, there is a reduction in the size of the brain by 3%. The hippocampus, a structure responsible for taking in information and converting it into a format that the brain can store and recall later, is affected amongst many others (Hoekzema et al., 2016). So this could also explain occurrences like forgetting whether you’ve taken your medication, or already showered your hair because if the information has not been stored, it is not remembered later. However, that is the only clear finding that can link changes in the brain with cognition (Pawluski et al., 2022). While there are many more changes in the brain, they are related to beneficial and adaptive things, that will be discussed further on. Related to those changes though is the hypothesis that because any activity in the brain takes a lot of energy, the body prioritizes activity that is directly related to the baby’s development so it can thrive (Cárdenas et al., 2019). Therefore, there is simply less energy going into all those processes responsible for following conversations, remembering where you left your things, taking pills and many more.

Speaking of less energy, let’s talk about your insomnia, and I’m not talking only about after the baby’s born. If you struggle with sleep during the pregnancy itself because you cannot find a proper position in which your back does not hurt, or you’re constantly stressed about birth or whether you’ve bought all the necessary things for your precious one, you’re not alone. Already during pregnancy around 80% of women report having more troubles with sleeping compared to before (Hashmi et al., 2016). This finding is important because sleeping fewer hours has been linked to more memory complaints, concentration and energy levels during pregnancy (Janes et al.,1999).

Good changes in the brain

Before giving you some tips I want to give you some good news. Pregnancy brain is also an adaptive change. Remember how I said that brain volume reduces during pregnancy? Well, the amount of change in the brain has been linked to the quality of mother-to-infant attachment (Hoekzema et al., 2017). This is because the areas showing the greatest reduction in size are the ones that comprise the theory of mind network (Pawluski et al., 2022). Theory of mind is the ability to interpret one self’s and someone else’s mental state and emotions. Not only is this useful when socializing with anyone, but especially when someone cannot yet express how they feel or what they need, like a small baby or child. Furthermore, pregnant women show other beneficial improvements in social cognition such as better social memory, recognition of threat and enhanced memory for faces (Pawluski et al., 2022). This may result in better decision making of who may pose a threat or help to the future child.

One important exception

While in most cases the cognitive problems are a normal result of your body adapting to the life it is growing, it may be a signal that something else is going on. If you are experiencing lack of motivation, sadness, apathy, anxiety and other worrying symptoms, together with the cognitive problems then this may be a sign of depression (Ouellette & Hampson, 2018). You may have heard of postpartum depression, the one that happens after the birth, but there is another type called antepartum depression that may also happen during the pregnancy itself in 15% of expectant mothers (Okagbue et al., 2019). If you suspect this is happening to you it may be best to consult your doctor to see if that is the case and what steps need to be taken.

What can you do to improve your cognition?

While you cannot impact the increase of hormones related to pregnancy and their effects on the brain structure (and you really should not), there are things you can do to improve your sleep, stress and energy levels. This in turn can lead to significant improvements in your cognition. Unfortunately, I cannot go in depth about the mechanisms leading to the improvements in this blogpost, so keep your eyes open for the next one, where I will provide more detail.

Moderate exercise like jogging, pilates, swimming, cycling and core strength training with light weights are not only safe but beneficial forms of exercise during pregnancy (Budler & Budler, 2022; Robinson & Bucci, 2012). It can lead to improved energy, help with stress and increase positive emotions, and improve your sleep (Baker et al., 2016).

Mindfulness is also a good way to get in touch with your emotions and manage your stress levels (Dhillon et al., 2017). It is the practice of being fully present in the moment by paying attention to what you’re doing, thinking, and feeling, without judgment. That way your focus is increased on the here and now rather than worrying about the future or the past.

A good diet goes a long way as it can greatly improve your cognition (Gómez-Pinilla, 2008). Therefore, you should not only eat healthy because your doctor said it is good for your developing baby, but also because it is good for you, and you deserve good things.

Take home message

While cognitive problems may be worrisome or bring about some insecurities, in most cases they are a completely normal result of your body creating an entire new life! What’s more it’s linked with better bonding with your body and improved social cognition. There are even studies showing that mothers have a younger brain and better functioning cognition later in life (spoilers for a future blog perhaps?). So please try to relax, not stress (I know easier said than done), and not dwell on the negatives, and focus on all the positives to come. And don’t hesitate to ask your friends or neighbours for help since raising a child takes a village and a good care for the baby starts with taking care of the mother.

What is still missing?

For the observant reader it may have caught the attention that even though I mentioned problems with remembering to take pills (prospective memory in scientific terms) or problems with concentration (sustained attention) in the definition of pregnancy brain, I did not further mention it. This is because studies are usually conducted in a lab with no distractions, no loud sounds or sometimes even the perfect temperature. Now compare this with the hectic reality of daily life where there is always something to do, or something to catch your attention. Therefore, it makes sense that sometimes what has been reported by expecting mothers, has not been found in the lab, if it has even been studied. So the question to ask now is whether there are no connections between problems in prospective memory and attention and hormonal or structural changes, or do lab studies fail to capture their complexity. Further questions may refer to whether people differ in the amount of cognitive change and the reasons behind it, as well as how soon, or if ever, things go back to normal. However, unfortunately that all the time (and word limit) this blogpost can provide, so stay tuned for a new blogpost that will have the answers.

Author: Vanesa Dimitrova

References

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  • Pictures used:
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