How Pregnancy Can Boost Brain Power
Most new and expecting mothers will tell you that being pregnant has a definite impact on their mental abilities.
Decreased amounts of sleep and fluctuating hormones accompanied by the numerous physical changes the body goes through during pregnancy undoubtedly affects a woman's ability to think and remember.
Tell them that being pregnant and going through all these changes actually improves brain function and chances are good they are going to laugh at you.
The truth is that pregnancy does have a positive impact on the mental function of a woman.
This contradiction to the old wives tale that when a woman is pregnant she becomes scatter brained.
There are bouts of forgetfulness experienced by many women but this is usually in the third trimester of the pregnancy and is considered temporary short term memory loss.
This short term memory loss is usually due to the lack of quality sleep the woman is getting, the fact that she is trying to learn a lot of new information in a short amount of time and the general discomforts that come along with being pregnant.
In a study that was done by the University of Richmond and the Randolph-Macon College, located in Virginia, USA, showed that pregnancy does not negatively impact a woman's brain power at all.
Actually what the study found was that mental acuity and the ability to remember significantly increased during pregnancy and after giving birth.
The study was conducted on pregnant mice, rats and more importantly humans.
While the results provided by the rats and mice showed that while pregnant they had more energy, appeared to be more curious, completed mazes more quickly and were able to retain detailed information for longer periods of time.
While similar results were present in the human test subjects, the pregnant women also showed increased acuity visually and a more sensitive sense of smell.
How exactly does pregnancy improve mental function? The hormones that are released during pregnancy week by week and during breastfeeding give the woman the extra boost in their mental acuity.
One hormone in particular, oxytocin, which is released in large quantities during pregnancy has a direct impact on the structure of the brain.
So during pregnancy there is an increase in dendrites.
Dendrites are the little connections that are in the brain that are responsible for allowing neurons to communicate with one another.
The more dendrites a person has, the better the communication in the brain.
Pregnancy, week by week also increases the number of glial cells.
These cells also play an important role in the communication of the brain.
The gliail cells act as signal transmitters in different area of the brain.
During pregnancy, it has been shown that these cells increase in number.
Interestingly, this improved brain function appears to be permanent.
In numerous studies that have been done on memory and pregnancy have all shown that improved cognition and increased memory retention continues throughout motherhood.
To enjoy all the mental benefits of being pregnant make sure you are getting enough sleep and eating right.
Decreased amounts of sleep and fluctuating hormones accompanied by the numerous physical changes the body goes through during pregnancy undoubtedly affects a woman's ability to think and remember.
Tell them that being pregnant and going through all these changes actually improves brain function and chances are good they are going to laugh at you.
The truth is that pregnancy does have a positive impact on the mental function of a woman.
This contradiction to the old wives tale that when a woman is pregnant she becomes scatter brained.
There are bouts of forgetfulness experienced by many women but this is usually in the third trimester of the pregnancy and is considered temporary short term memory loss.
This short term memory loss is usually due to the lack of quality sleep the woman is getting, the fact that she is trying to learn a lot of new information in a short amount of time and the general discomforts that come along with being pregnant.
In a study that was done by the University of Richmond and the Randolph-Macon College, located in Virginia, USA, showed that pregnancy does not negatively impact a woman's brain power at all.
Actually what the study found was that mental acuity and the ability to remember significantly increased during pregnancy and after giving birth.
The study was conducted on pregnant mice, rats and more importantly humans.
While the results provided by the rats and mice showed that while pregnant they had more energy, appeared to be more curious, completed mazes more quickly and were able to retain detailed information for longer periods of time.
While similar results were present in the human test subjects, the pregnant women also showed increased acuity visually and a more sensitive sense of smell.
How exactly does pregnancy improve mental function? The hormones that are released during pregnancy week by week and during breastfeeding give the woman the extra boost in their mental acuity.
One hormone in particular, oxytocin, which is released in large quantities during pregnancy has a direct impact on the structure of the brain.
So during pregnancy there is an increase in dendrites.
Dendrites are the little connections that are in the brain that are responsible for allowing neurons to communicate with one another.
The more dendrites a person has, the better the communication in the brain.
Pregnancy, week by week also increases the number of glial cells.
These cells also play an important role in the communication of the brain.
The gliail cells act as signal transmitters in different area of the brain.
During pregnancy, it has been shown that these cells increase in number.
Interestingly, this improved brain function appears to be permanent.
In numerous studies that have been done on memory and pregnancy have all shown that improved cognition and increased memory retention continues throughout motherhood.
To enjoy all the mental benefits of being pregnant make sure you are getting enough sleep and eating right.