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How pregnancy transforms the brain to prepare it for parenthood

It’s a transformational time long neglected by neuroscience. That is starting to change.
  1. Liam Drew

    1. Liam Drew is a freelance science journalist in Kent, UK.

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Top down view of a woman holding a newborn baby

Brain changes during pregnancy might help parents to bond with their children after birth. Credit: Getty

In November 2008, neuroscientist Susana Carmona — then a postdoc studying attention deficit hyperactivity disorder — was driving two colleagues to a party when one of them revealed that she was thinking about having a child. The trio became so engulfed in conversation about how pregnancy might change her brain that they diverted from the party and headed to their laboratory to search the literature.

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Nature 632, 22-24 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-02447-w

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