As the saying goes, a child is foolish for three years. Many expectant mothers find themselves often forgetful and easily moody. British researchers have found that this state of \”pregnancy stupidity\” does exist and is purposeful, designed to help mothers better understand their babies\’ needs after birth.
Interpreting synthetic faces
\”Pregnancy stupidity\”, also known as \”fetal brain\”, refers to the cognitive impairment, memory loss, emotional problems and other problems that occur in women after pregnancy. Dr. Victoria Byrne of Royal Holloway, University of London, leads a research team that hopes to understand the \”baby brain\” from a neuropsychological perspective.
The researchers recruited 19 pregnant women and 20 new mothers as volunteers. The babies of these new mothers were on average 9 weeks old.
Researchers asked volunteers to look at pictures of a group of people. The faces of adults and children in the picture were synthesized using computer software. Half of them are calm faces, and the other half have happy or depressed expressions. The chimeric face test allowed researchers to see which side of the brain the volunteers used to process positive or negative emotions.
Pregnant women are more sensitive
Results showed that pregnant women use their right brain more frequently than new mothers, especially when processing positive emotions. The right brain is usually associated with emotions, while the left brain is associated with logic.
The British \”Daily Mail\” quoted Byrne on the 6th as saying that in the study, expectant mothers were better at judging emotions than new mothers, and they were more sensitive to expressions, especially when observing their babies\’ faces.
Additionally, new mothers with symptoms of postpartum depression may make mistakes when interpreting their baby\’s emotions. If the baby is \”unhappy,\” the new mother will assume that the baby has been \”unhappy.\”
Byrne presented this finding at the British Psychological Society\’s annual conference on the 6th.
Help connect mothers and children
Researchers believe that areas of the brain responsible for regulating emotions are more active in expectant mothers, making them extra sensitive. This change helps women adapt to various situations after the birth of their child.
\”The extra sensitivity during pregnancy appears to be designed to help women adjust to what happens after the baby is born, arguably helping women develop intuition and therefore be more sensitive to their baby\’s needs,\” Byrne says. It\’s caused by hormonal changes.
\”Uncovering the neuropsychological processes underlying these changes is key to understanding how these changes affect the mother-infant relationship,\” Byrne said.
However, the research community has mixed opinions about \”pregnancy stupidity\”. A previous study in Australia showed that the state of \”pregnancy stupidity\” may be just a psychological effect of people, and pregnancy has no obvious impact on women\’s brains. Researchers from the Australian National University asked a group of women to take three tests before, during and after pregnancy. The results showed that during these three periods, the women\’s memory and cognitive abilities did not show any significant improvement.The difference.