Montse Costa

Does the brain change during pregnancy? You bet it does. How about doing 26 MRI scans on a single person pre-conception to 2 years post-partum. WOW! Laura Pritschet and colleagues nailed it with their new paper in @NatureNeuro. Key Points: - The authors point out that pregnancy is a period of profound hormonal and physiological changes. - The authors did something incredible by mapping neuroanatomical changes in an individual from preconception through two years postpartum. - Boom! There were pronounced decreases in gray matter volume and cortical thickness. - There were increases in white matter microstructural integrity, ventricle volume and cerebrospinal fluid. - There were few regions untouched by the 'transition to motherhood.' My take: This study shows us how a single brain in a single person can be a powerful resource when scanned serially over time. This method is hard to pull off, however what it has the potential to teach us about neuroscience is mind-blowing. Though this paper is only a single subject, the data provides a comprehensive map of the human brain across gestation. It will be interesting to add to the dataset, so we can understand changes across multiple persons and multiple conditions. The convergence of evidence is revealing that pregnancy as associated with dramatic neuroplasticity. How about a shout out to this 38-year-old woman who underwent 26 MRI scans along with blood draws from 3 weeks preconception through 2 years postpartum! nature.com/articles/s41593-0… #pregnancy #brain @ndosenbach @andreashorn_ @EMiddlebrooksMD