Scientists from the study of the brain of middle-aged women, found that the brain of those who gave birth better than those who did not have children, which means that the defense mechanism that appears in pregnant women for life, according to the newspaper "Mirror" quoted the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Which published the results of this study.
"During pregnancy and the first weeks after childbirth, serious changes occur in the woman's body, including even the brain, where the flexibility increases sharply, the structure of neural connections is restored, and strong coping mechanisms work to ensure the health of the mother and child," she said.
As you know, during pregnancy the size of a woman's brain shrinks, and within six months after the birth of the baby returns to normal size.
Hypotheses published in the scientific literature suggest that changes in neurons during pregnancy may remain long after birth, providing lifelong protection to the brain by slowing down its aging process.
Based on this, a European scientific team from Britain, Norway and the Netherlands decided to confirm these hypotheses. He studied the condition and brain structure of 12,021 British women aged 54-55 years (9568 gave birth at least once and 2,453 never gave birth). The researchers devised a neuroimaging algorithm that allowed them not only to detect the effects of changes in the brain as a result of pregnancy, but also to determine the number of births. It turned out that the brain of those who gave birth even once had a biological age of 2-3 years younger than those who never gave birth. And that by increasing reproductive times this difference was growing expelled.
Scientists have confirmed that life factors, including genetic, ethnic, social, body mass index, etc., have nothing to do with this.
To suggest changes in the brain of a pregnant woman, scientists suggest several hypotheses, including a hypothesis that these changes occur due to endocrine shifts. Estradiol, progesterone, prolactin, oxytocin and cortisol are known to affect brain activity, and any disruption may have long-term consequences for brain health. The effect of embryonic cells that remain after childbearing in a woman's body may also continue to affect micro-chemical reactions in the brain.