Mothers’ Brains Are Bigger
By LISA BELKINYes, it’s based on a tiny sample — just 19 women, all in their 30s and all college educated. True, it’s a preliminary finding.
But let’s put that aside for the moment and indulge ourselves, shall we?
The study, which appears in this month’s issue of the journal Behavioral Neuroscience finds that women’s brains grow in the months after they give birth, leaving them smarter than they were before.
O.K., O.K., I know. From where you sit, it doesn’t feel that way, what with all the absentmindedness and exhaustion, occasional inept moments, fits of anger or crying jags. But the neuroscientist Pilyoung Kim, of the National Institutes of Health, measured the brains of new mothers and found that those who had “positive” interactions with their infants showed “increased gray matter volume in the midbrain,” the region linked to such skills as judgment, reasoning and emotional processing. It’s the same effect previously seen in postpartum lab animals and is likely an evolutionary response to increased demands on a female to keep offspring alive.
The key word here, though, is “positive.” The brain growth seems to be a self-perpetuating cycle, with mothers learning coping skills with each warm and successful interaction with their newborns. In this way, the research might provide a window onto the mechanics of postpartum depression, because the cycle seems not to “take” as completely in women with postpartum depression. As Craig Kinsley, professor of psychology at the University of Richmond, asks in a commentary to the Kim article: “Is it possible that just as there are edifices that are poorly constructed and crumble at the first challenge by earthquake or hurricane, there may be defectively assembled maternal brains that fail in their task of caring adequately for young?”
But I digress. There will be more research to worry us about the way this process can go wrong.
For today, Mama, just smile quietly to yourself, knowing yours is bigger.
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