Brain Power

After hearing about studies that found brain shrinkage, memory loss and poor learning ability during pregnancy, some good news about the pregnant woman's brain is finally here. A new study of animals showed that hormones released during pregnancy and breastfeeding actually dramatically enhance parts of the brain involved in learning and memory, according to researchers at a Society for Neuroscience meeting. This may help in understanding the effects that higher hormone levels have on the brain during childbearing.

Neuroscientist researchers at the University of Richmond and Randolph Macon College in Virginia suggested that a pregnant animal's behavior changes because of a permanent shift in the brain. Special brain cell structures called dendrites, which are necessary for communication between neurons, doubled in pregnant and breastfeeding lab mice. Simultaneously, the number of the brain's glial cells, which act as communication conductors, doubled.

Researchers say the pregnant mice were bolder, more inquisitive and energetic. They learned mazes more quickly, made less mistakes and retained their newfound knowledge longer. The effects appeared to be long-lasting.

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