Year: 2021
Type: review
Abstract: Women that become mothers face notable physiological adaptations during this life-period. Neuroimaging studies of the last decade have provided grounded evidence that women's brains structurally change across the transition into motherhood. The characterization of this brain remodeling is currently in its early years of research. The current article reviews this scientific field by focusing on our longitudinal (pre-to-post pregnancy) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) studies in first-time parents and other longitudinal and cross-sectional studies of parents. We present the questions that are currently being answered by the parental brain literature and point out those that have not yet been explored. We also highlight potential confounding variables that need to be considered when analyzing and interpreting brain changes observed during motherhood.
Institutions: Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón, Spanish National Centre for Cardiovascular Research, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Hospital Del Mar, Hospital del Mar Research Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,900
Awards: G1618206552, G2672649407, G2791226188, Evolución y bases hormonales de la remodelación cerebral gestacional en mujeres con y sin riesgo de trastorno mental postparto, G434337789, Becoming a mother: An integrative model of adaptations for motherhood during pregnancy and the postpartum period., G5117222866, G526084217, G5565490194, G5861481754, G6298273575, G6308470346, G677959595, G7229612603, G7666374105
OpenAlex ID: W3205879054