title: Pregnancy leads to long-lasting changes in human brain structure.
abstract: Pregnancy involves radical hormone surges and biological adaptations. However, the effects of pregnancy on the human brain are virtually unknown. Here we show, using a prospective ('pre'-'post' pregnancy) study involving first-time mothers and fathers and nulliparous control groups, that pregnancy renders substantial changes in brain structure, primarily reductions in gray matter (GM) volume in regions subserving social cognition. The changes were selective for the mothers and highly consistent, correctly classifying all women as having undergone pregnancy or not in-between sessions. Interestingly, the volume reductions showed a substantial overlap with brain regions responding to the women's babies postpartum. Furthermore, the GM volume changes of pregnancy predicted measures of postpartum maternal attachment, suggestive of an adaptive process serving the transition into motherhood. Another follow-up session showed that the GM reductions endured for at least 2 years post-pregnancy. Our data provide the first evidence that pregnancy confers long-lasting changes in a woman's brain.
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca en Neurociència Cognitiva, Departament de Psiquiatria i Medicina Legal, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.|Brain and Development Laboratory, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.|Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Elseline
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hoekzema
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca en Neurociència Cognitiva, Departament de Psiquiatria i Medicina Legal, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Barba-Müller
authors.affiliation: Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pozzobon
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca en Neurociència Cognitiva, Departament de Psiquiatria i Medicina Legal, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Marisol
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Picado
authors.affiliation: Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Florencio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lucco
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioingeniería e Ingeniería Aeroespacial, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: García-García
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca en Neurociència Cognitiva, Departament de Psiquiatria i Medicina Legal, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Soliva
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca en Neurociència Cognitiva, Departament de Psiquiatria i Medicina Legal, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Adolf
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tobeña
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioingeniería e Ingeniería Aeroespacial, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Desco
authors.affiliation: Brain and Development Laboratory, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.|Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Eveline A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Crone
authors.affiliation: Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Agustín
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ballesteros
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca en Neurociència Cognitiva, Departament de Psiquiatria i Medicina Legal, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.|Departamento de Bioingeniería e Ingeniería Aeroespacial, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.|Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Susanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Carmona
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Recerca en Neurociència Cognitiva, Departament de Psiquiatria i Medicina Legal, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.|Fundació IMIM, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Vilarroya
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors