Pregnancy is universally recognized as a moment of great transformation. But the changes aren’t limited to the body. Dutch researchers have discovered that hormones are also able to change the structure and functions of women’s brains, paving the way for what will be the mother-child bond.
The relationship between hormones and the brain
Although hormones are an integral part of our metabolism, we still have little knowledge of the effects they can have on our brain, both neurally and socially. Today we know that, if our brain were a computer, hormones are able to modify not only the software, but also the hardware and to install new programs.
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by Paola Emilia Cicero
The search just came out on Nature Communicationsconducted by the professor Elseline Hoekzema of the Amsterdam University Medical Center, unveils this new function for the first time, showing how the brain is permeable to change and ready to evolve.
The study of 40 women before and after childbirth
“To understand how pregnancy could lead to changes in the brain, we looked at 40 women before, during and after childbirth,” explains neuroscientist Elseline Hoekzema. “Through anatomical and functional MRI we were able to demonstrate that gestation leads to selective and robust changes in the architecture and organization of the neural network. These results suggest that estrogen triggers selective changes in the brain that can facilitate maternal processes of the peripartum, of great relevance to the mother-infant dyad, which are also the key to postpartum problems”.
By comparing the images from the reports before, during and after pregnancy, the researchers found greater functional connectivity in the Default Mode Networka large-scale brain network active when the individual is thinking about others, about himself, remembering the past and planning for the future.
In other studies it was noted that the Dmn is deactivated in certain tasks and that in the absence of cognitive requests it can convert into Task-negative network, showing a role in depression as well as dementias and autism spectrum disorders. In addition to identifying increased activity and interconnectedness, lasting at least a year postpartum, the Hoekzema Lab researchers observed changes in gray matter volume and architecture, white matter microstructure, neural metabolite concentrations, and a association between functional activity and measures of mother-infant bonding in the postpartum phase.
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How the brain changes during pregnancy
“With this study we have comprehensively traced the changes that occur in a woman’s brain during this unique transition period,” writes Professor Hoekzema who has been studying women’s brains and the changes triggered by pregnancy for years – . Our data reveal pronounced and selective structural and functional brain plasticity that may confer adaptive advantages for gestational and maternal behavior, as well as establishment of the new relationship with the unborn child.”
Considering the strong structural changes observed in the Dmn, “we were particularly interested in understanding whether other conditions influenced them. And in addition to being consistent with the hormonal changes in the different trimesters, they also showed very similar results in the case of treatments for fertility and gestation of twins”.
What happens after an abortion
And in the event of an abortion? “The imaging results returned to being comparable to the brains of nulliparous, or those who have never been pregnant, suggesting that hormones do not cause permanent changes in the white matter of the brain.”
Stress in pregnancy: the effects on the newborn
by Tina Simoniello
All sex steroid hormones appear to affect the brain, but especially third trimester estradiol. During pregnancy, the placenta produces large quantities of it, going from 3,000 picograms per milliliter in the twelfth week to 14,000 in the thirty-second week. And since no associations were found with other factors, such as stress or lack of sleep, it is evident that “estrogens play a role in pregnancy-related neuroplasticity and therefore also in psychology and physiological gestational maternal processes that help a woman prepare upon the arrival of her baby”, concludes the neuroscientist, opening a new door on the study of bonding problems between mother and unborn child.
Inconsistent levels of hormones during pregnancy, in addition to causing problems for the fetus, could in fact be the trigger for postpartum disorders, and this could be a new way to prevent more serious situations in the future with a simple blood test.