Department of Psychology, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866, USA.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2010 Sep;35(8):1148-55. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2010.01.015. Epub 2010 Mar 21.
Mammalian pregnancy produces alterations in maternal physiology that are necessary for maintaining gestation, fetal development and parturition. These changes also may prepare the maternal brain for the unique demands of motherhood. Parous rodents exhibit long-term changes in neurological structure and function and human work suggests that other landmark events in the reproductive cycle, such as menarche and menopause, influence cognition. However, the influence of pregnancy on the human brain remains to be elucidated. This study indicates that verbal recall memory (but not recognition or working memory) diminishes during human pregnancy and that these decrements persist after parturition. Further, prenatal glucocorticoids and estrogen are associated with these alterations. To meet the challenges of motherhood, the female brain may be remodeled, a process that appears to be initiated prenatally. However, it is not often that adaptation is achieved without an associated cost. For the human, in the case of the new maternal brain, diminished memory performance may reflect such a cost.
哺乳动物妊娠会导致母体生理发生变化，这对于维持妊娠、胎儿发育和分娩是必要的。这些变化也可能使母体大脑为母性的特殊需求做好准备。已产的啮齿动物的神经系统结构和功能会发生长期变化，人类的研究表明，生殖周期中的其他标志性事件，如初潮和绝经，会影响认知。然而，妊娠对人类大脑的影响仍有待阐明。这项研究表明，人类妊娠期间言语回忆记忆（但不包括识别或工作记忆）会下降，并且这些下降在分娩后仍然存在。此外，产前糖皮质激素和雌激素与这些变化有关。为了应对母性的挑战，女性大脑可能会重塑，这个过程似乎是在产前开始的。然而，在没有相关代价的情况下实现适应并不常见。对于人类来说，在新的母性大脑的情况下，记忆表现的下降可能反映了这种代价。
