Brainpower Improved By Motherhood, Says New Research

It is commonly thought that having children may reduce a woman’s brainpower. Research conducted by Dr. Craig Kinsley, professor of neuroscience at the University of Richmond, Virginia, and his colleagues, discovered that contrary to this popular belief, being a mother may actually boost brainpower instead; improving lifelong mental agility and protecting the brain against neurodegenerative diseases of aging.

Dr. Kinsley says that while a woman may experience an apparent temporary loss of brain function while she is pregnant, this could be because parts of her brain are being remodeled in preparation for dealing with the complicated demands of childrearing. "The changes that kick in then could last for the rest of their lives, bolstering cognitive abilities and protecting them against degenerative diseases," he stated. Dr. Kinsley also suggests the remodeling may even boost a woman's brainpower above and beyond what she had before pregnancy!

Primates and rats were studied and their brains were compared, including the skills of females with and without offspring. Physical brain differences were looked at as well. Researchers noted that the females with offspring were braver, could find food up to five times more quickly and they seemed to have better spatial ability than females without offspring.

Researchers uncovered that nerve cells in parts of the brain important for tending to offspring were bigger and more richly connected to other cells in the brains of mothers. In addition, their brains showed newly formed clusters of cells that the researchers referred to as "maternal circuits.” According to Dr. Kinsley human women likely will have similar benefits because the same regions of the brain are used in maternal behaviors.