Overview
- Researchers followed first‑time mothers, second‑time mothers, and childless controls with repeated brain scans to chart pregnancy‑related changes, as published in Nature Communications.
- The first pregnancy produced the largest structural and functional alterations within the Default Mode Network, which supports self‑reflection and social processes.
- A second pregnancy led to additional changes that were strongest in attention and sensory‑response networks, with comparatively smaller shifts in the Default Mode Network.
- Cortical alterations correlated with the quality of the mother–child bond, with stronger associations observed during the first pregnancy.
- Brain changes were linked to peripartum depression in both first and second pregnancies, showing effects most clearly after birth for first‑time mothers and during pregnancy for second‑time mothers.