Martínez-García, MagdalenaPaternina Die, MaríaDesco, ManuelVilarroya, ÓscarCarmona, Susanna2022-07-282022-07-282021Martínez-García M, Paternina-Die M, Desco M, Vilarroya O, Carmona S. Characterizing the brain structural adaptations across the motherhood transition. Front Glob Womens Health. 2021 Oct 7; 2: 742775. DOI: 10.3389/fgwh.2021.7427752673-5059http://hdl.handle.net/10230/53870Women 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.application/pdfengCopyright © 2021 Martínez-García, Paternina-Die, Desco, Vilarroya and Carmona. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fgwh.2021.742775MRIMaternal behaviorMotherNeuroplasticityPregnancyinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess