What exactly does "one baby brain every three years" mean?

Any woman is no stranger to the expression "one fetus every three years". Mothers who have been pregnant and given birth will swear to tell you that this proverb is true. Those women who are ready to get pregnant can't help worrying: "Being pregnant will make people stupid, which is terrible." There is even a study that shows that pregnancy will reduce the gray matter volume in some areas of the female brain. Isn't this the direct evidence of "one fetus has three years of brain"?

In the face of numerous speeches,

Baby brain for three years, is it true or not?

As a doctor, I am also a father. I accompanied my wife through the process of pregnancy and parenting, and I have to say a heartfelt truth: women are really great. Pregnancy and childbirth are a major event in women's personal life. You know, it is gestating and creating new life. Many changes of pregnant women during pregnancy are admirable. Take estradiol for example. The concentration of this hormone is 30 times higher than the highest level of pregnant women in the third trimester.

After pregnancy and childbirth, the mother's brain structure does change, which is the discovery of the latest research. At the end of 20 16, research teams from the Netherlands and Spain published an interesting study in Nature Neuroscience. By comparing the brain imaging characteristics of women before and after pregnancy, they found that pregnancy did reduce the gray matter volume in some areas of the brain, which lasted for more than five years.

Faced with such a result, the direct reaction of ordinary people is that the volume of gray matter becomes smaller. Isn't this the first time that pregnancy makes people "stupid"? In the face of a scientific research achievement, what I am most afraid of is superficial and popular over-explanation. In fact, scientists' behavioral tests on these pregnant women showed that their speech and working memory were not affected, and no cognitive impairment was found at all. In other words, this study denies the saying that "a baby's brain lasts for three years".

A brain with structural changes,

What does it mean for pregnant mothers?

Further analysis shows that the reduced gray matter can well predict the intimacy between mother and baby. In detail, the more obvious the reduction of gray matter volume, the closer the relationship between mother and baby. In other words, this study proves from images that women's brains will prepare for their next generation in advance, aiming at better understanding the baby's needs and laying the foundation for the establishment of mother-infant relationship. Reflected in specific life scenes, mothers will be more sensitive to their babies' crying and emotional changes, thus better protecting their children's safety.

From this point of view, the scientific basis of "one fetus has three years of brain" is insufficient, but many women have more practical experience in life. From a psychological point of view, it is not so much "one baby brain every three years" as "one baby every three years". From the moment babies are born, mothers need to put more energy into taking care of them. As mammals and human beings, newborn babies have no ability to act independently, so eating and drinking Lazar must be taken care of by their parents. They need to learn to stand and walk, and learn language communication skills. Behind all this, hardworking mothers shoulder very important parenting tasks.

The most direct change is that it is difficult to sleep well after having a baby. Medically speaking, this is equivalent to a long-term chronic "sleep deprivation". Lack of sleep will affect people's learning ability. When the depth and time of sleep at night are insufficient, the individual's attention and concentration will decline, which makes us unable to respond to information more accurately and even easy to make wrong judgments. Over time, lack of sleep will also make individuals' mood worse, and negative emotional state will really affect people's ability to acquire and remember new information.

In addition, mothers who have given birth to their children for one year put the most energy into taking care of their children. This will make my mother feel a little out of touch with society. When they return to their original jobs, their adaptability may be affected by multiple tasks and sources of stress. However, scientists also found that after a period of re-adaptation and adjustment, their performance was almost equal to others.

What can't be ignored is that "one year in the baby's brain for three years" seems to be a common psychological suggestion, and "species" has become a "heart disease" in many women's hearts. Michael Larson, a psychologist at Brigham Young University, believes that the mystery of "one baby's brain in three years" cannot be solved precisely because women will selectively look for evidence to support this concept. For example, if a pregnant woman forgets to bring her keys when she goes out, she may blame her pregnancy for making her brain stupid, regardless of the specific situation and reasons. As I wrote in the preface of Healthy mythbusters, "People always choose and stick to what they think is right based on their own preferences rather than the truth itself".

In short, there is no scientific basis to show that "one fetus has a brain for three years". I hope this proverb will no longer become people's "demons".

Authors: Department of Anesthesiology, Changhai Hospital, Naval Medical University.

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