New Mom's Brain Power

Check it out!  New Moms have the best brain ever!
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Pregnant and new moms have super brains. Neural activity during pregnancy is ramped up by hormonal fluctuations, and this is a good thing!
There have been extensive studies on new mom rats and we can only make associated comparisons.  Substitute the word “human” for “rat” and proceed with an open mind.
 
Pregnant and lactating rats suffer less fear and anxiety than virgin rats when confronted with forced swimming (University of Regensburg, Germany). Let’s face it---mothers are a force to be reckoned with and for good reason! We know that they are brave! We now have research that shows there is a reduction in activity in the CA3 region of the hippocampus and basolateral amygdala: areas effecting fear and stress response.  Fearlessness! Go girl!
 
Another feature of enhanced capabilities included her hunting skills.  Two slightly food deprived rats, one a mother and one a virgin, were set to find a cricket. The virgin took 270 seconds to find it and eat it. The mother took 50 seconds!
 
Enhanced spatial and learning areas of the brain were studied in 1999.  In a race to find preferred food, rats that had experienced two or more pregnancies won 60% of the time. The ones that had given birth just once won the prize 33% of the time. Compare this with the virgin rats that only won 7% of the time.  Mother rats nearly always beat virgins in competitions that involve multitasking.”
 
Researchers are associating this with humans in their ability to multitask. The brain is enormously plastic. When researchers at the University of Regensburg taught women and men to juggle three balls in the air.  The brain areas that focus on perception and prediction of movement expanded while juggling! It retracted when the juggling stopped. Mothers juggle!
 
The mother brain is the best brain going! Never underestimate a pregnant or a new Mom.  She has now joined the race of the Super-Mom! Don’t blame her for seeing things that you don’t see----just help her---- and love her.