While pregnancy can be a stressful and anxious time for some women, there’s also evidence that it can affect the way your brain functions too. In fact, research published in American Journal of Neuroradiology in 2002 found that women’s brain volume decreased by around 4% during pregnancy.
However, there is a lot we don’t know about why these cognitive changes occur in pregnancy and affect some women more than others. Dr Jonny Kohl, who is studying how bodily states influence brain structure and function at the Frances Crick Institute in London, says: “While numerous anecdotes support the existence of ‘baby brain’, the scientific research behind its causes remains limited.
