Do pregnancy-induced brain changes reverse? The brain of a mother six years after parturition

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  • dc.contributor.author Martínez-García, Magdalena
  • dc.contributor.author Paternina Die, María
  • dc.contributor.author Barba-Müller, Erika
  • dc.contributor.author Martín de Blas, Daniel
  • dc.contributor.author Beumala, Laura
  • dc.contributor.author Cortizo Vidal, Romina
  • dc.contributor.author Pozzobon, Cristina
  • dc.contributor.author Marcos-Vidal, Luis
  • dc.contributor.author Fernández Pena, Alberto
  • dc.contributor.author Picado, Marisol
  • dc.contributor.author Belmonte Padilla, Elena
  • dc.contributor.author Massó Rodriguez, Anna
  • dc.contributor.author Ballesteros, Agustín
  • dc.contributor.author Desco, Manuel
  • dc.contributor.author Vilarroya, Óscar
  • dc.contributor.author Hoekzema, Elseline
  • dc.contributor.author Carmona, Susanna
  • dc.date.accessioned 2021-06-28T07:37:08Z
  • dc.date.available 2021-06-28T07:37:08Z
  • dc.date.issued 2021
  • dc.description.abstract Neuroimaging researchers commonly assume that the brain of a mother is comparable to that of a nulliparous woman. However, pregnancy leads to pronounced gray matter volume reductions in the mother's brain, which have been associated with maternal attachment towards the baby. Beyond two years postpartum, no study has explored whether these brain changes are maintained or instead return to pre-pregnancy levels. The present study tested whether gray matter volume reductions detected in primiparous women are still present six years after parturition. Using data from a unique, prospective neuroimaging study, we compared the gray matter volume of 25 primiparous and 22 nulliparous women across three sessions: before conception (n = 25/22), during the first months of postpartum (n = 25/21), and at six years after parturition (n = 7/5). We found that most of the pregnancy-induced gray matter volume reductions persist six years after parturition (classifying women as having been pregnant or not with 91.67% of total accuracy). We also found that brain changes at six years postpartum are associated with measures of mother-to-infant attachment. These findings open the possibility that pregnancy-induced brain changes are permanent and encourage neuroimaging studies to routinely include pregnancy-related information as a relevant demographic variable.
  • dc.description.sponsorship This work was supported by Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades project RTI2018-093952-B-100 and by Instituto de Salud Carlos III projects CP16/00096 and PI17/00064, and co-funded by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), “A way of making Europe.” The project exAScale ProgramIng models for extreme Data procEssing (ASPIDE) has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 801091. M.M.-G. and S.C. were funded by Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Predoctorales de Formación en Investigación en Salud (PFIS), contract FI18/00255 and Miguel Servet Type I research contract CP16/00096, respectively) and co-funded by European Social Fund “Investing in your future.” M.P.-D. was supported by Consejería de Educación e Investigación, Comunidad de Madrid, co-funded by European Social Fund “Investing in your future” (PEJD-2018-PRE/BMD-9401). The project leading to these results has received funding from “la Caixa” Foundation under the project code LCF/PR/HR19/52160001. The Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) is supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, and the Pro CNIC Foundation, and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (SEV-2015-0505).
  • dc.format.mimetype application/pdf
  • dc.identifier.citation Martínez-García M, Paternina-Die M, Barba-Müller E, Martín de Blas D, Beumala L, Cortizo R, Pozzobon C, Marcos-Vidal L, Fernández-Pena A, Picado M, Belmonte-Padilla E, Massó-Rodriguez A, Ballesteros A, Desco M, Vilarroya Ó, Hoekzema E, Carmona S. Do pregnancy-induced brain changes reverse? The brain of a mother six years after parturition. Brain Sci. 2021;11(2):168. DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11020168
  • dc.identifier.doi http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11020168
  • dc.identifier.issn 2076-3425
  • dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10230/47985
  • dc.language.iso eng
  • dc.publisher MDPI
  • dc.relation.ispartof Brain Sci. 2021;11(2):168
  • dc.relation.projectID info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/801091
  • dc.rights © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
  • dc.rights.accessRights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
  • dc.rights.uri http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
  • dc.subject.keyword Magnetic resonance imaging
  • dc.subject.keyword Maternal brain
  • dc.subject.keyword Neuroplasticity
  • dc.subject.keyword Postpartum
  • dc.subject.keyword Pregnancy
  • dc.title Do pregnancy-induced brain changes reverse? The brain of a mother six years after parturition
  • dc.type info:eu-repo/semantics/article
  • dc.type.version info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

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