Albert AlcaineFar from the myth that mothers become absent-minded and forgetful after childbirth is cultural, in fact, the opposite is true: motherhood reinforces mindfulness. So where does this myth come from? Surely, it has been studied that they do feel more distracted when they have no family support.
The brains of women who have given birth are not damaged by pregnancy, and the forgetfulness that can occur is not a problem because of their attention-related cognitive capacity . Until now, it was said that when forgetfulness is frequent, the episodes become what is known as momnesia or baby brain: the amnesia of mothers, which was said to affect between 50% and 80% of mothers, especially early mothers.
This phenomenon was thought to be related to shrinkage of the grey matter in certain areas of the brain, including the prefrontal regions and the hippocampus, which are key to memory.
The results of this new study, published in the journal Current Psychology, showed that women who had been mothers scored higher on tests of attention, alertness and executive orientation, i.e. they were more able than those who had not.
And another interesting fact: this advantage was evident among women who had been mothers, with an average of 10 years older than those who did not have children.
Valerie Tucker Miller, the lead researcher, explains that the myth is not only untrue, but that in any case motherhood is associated with enhanced, rather than diminished, care, which can last up to 6 years after childbirth.
The brain changes occur regardless of whether the person has given birth or not, i.e. they are not only seen in birth mothers but also in non-birth fathers.
The reason is simple: some of these changes are, yes, hormone-driven, but others seem socially driven.
Does this mean that there are no mothers who feel distracted and neglected? Of course there are! Especially when they are stressed, sleep-deprived and without support from partner or family, even more so in situations of economic instability. But it is often due to attribution bias, i.e. using pregnancy to justify everything that happens.
A superior capacity for care is not always a good thing: it may amplify or increase feelings of stress and isolation.
And before giving birth, pregnant women show a strong drive to learn about baby-related items, while also having a generally better long-term memory than women who have never been pregnant . This would explain why, rather than a contraction of the grey matter, what happens is that during pregnancy, the brain undergoes an “extraordinary period of reorganisation” thanks to neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to recover, restructure and adapt to new situations.
The next step should be to carry out the study in multicultural searches to examine how discourses about motherhood and social support are associated with this myth, which is so present in the society we live in.
Behind the baby brain, there is a forceful component of sexism.
📎 Alcaine, A. [Albert]. (2024, 18 August). Motherhood does not reduce attention span. PsicoPop. https://www.psicopop.top/en/motherhood-does-not-reduce-attention-span/
📖 References:
