2026-08-05T11:42:00Zhttps://repisalud.isciii.es/rest/oai/request

oai:repisalud.isciii.es:20.500.12105/124742024-11-29T10:42:03Zcom_20.500.12105_15322com_20.500.12105_2051com_20.500.12105_19604col_20.500.12105_16978col_20.500.12105_16983col_20.500.12105_19607

00925njm 22002777a 4500 dc Martínez-García, Magdalena author Paternina-Die, María author Barba-Müller, Erika author Martín de Blas, Daniel author Beumala, Laura author Cortizo, Romina author Pozzobon, Cristina author Marcos-Vidal, Luis author Fernández-Pena, Alberto author Picado, Marisol author Belmonte-Padilla, Elena author Massó-Rodriguez, Anna author Ballesteros, Agustín author Desco, Manuel author Vilarroya, Óscar author Hoekzema, Elseline author Carmona, Susanna author 2021-02-03 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. View Full-Text Brain Sci. 2021; 11(2):168 10.3390/brainsci11020168 2076-3425 Brain Sciences 33525512 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12105/12474 Pregnancy Maternal brain Magnetic resonance imaging Neuroplasticity Postpartum Do Pregnancy-Induced Brain Changes Reverse? The Brain of a Mother Six Years after Parturition