Pregnant women can still think straight

Oct 13 2008

The notion that women who are pregnant can't think straight at times has been thoroughly debunked by research from Australia.

In a new study by researchers from the Centre for Mental Health Research at the Australian National University in Canberra, no evidence has been found that being pregnant affects a woman's cognitive abilities.

Professor Helen Christensen who led the study says women's perceptions of the brain function is not reflected in the tests and there is no evidence of long-term cognitive decline during pregnancy and motherhood.

The research followed 2,500 women aged between 20 and 24, for eight years during which time more than 200 of them became mothers. The research was based on interviews with the women which found that 76 women who were pregnant during second or third interviews scored no differently on logic and memory tests than previously.

Professor Christensen says while the research found that young mothers did risk becoming less well educated, pregnancy and motherhood were found to have no detrimental effects on cognitive capacity.

Professor Christensen says women who have children become marginally less well educated than women who don't have children in their 20s as having children interrupts education, and early mothers may be disadvantaged later on if they do not continue with further training.

The study look at the effects of motherhood over a relatively short time and the researchers hope future human data will support studies with animals which have found that mother rats have an improved 'multi-skilling' capacity and less fear responses than non-mothers.

Professor Christensen says the data on rats suggests that mothers navigate mazes more efficiently, have less anxiety and fear and excel at 'multi-skilling' which sounds very much like most mothers.

Professor Christensen says while it was possible the tests were unable to pick up subtle changes in the brain, it seemed more likely that women blamed pregnancy for minor normal lapses in memory because it was foremost in their mind at the time.