Motherhood increases brain power

Research from the USA suggests that women who have children improve their lifelong mental agility and are protected against the neurodegenerative diseases of old age. Craig Kinsley and colleagues that there may be a apparent loss of brain function while pregnant, but that this is caused by brain remodelling while the woman's body prepares for motherhood.

The researchers studied rats and primates and compared the brains and skills of females with and without offspring. As well as physical brain differences, they found that females with offspring were braver, could find food up to five times more quickly, and had better spatial ability than females without offspring.

Among the physical differences in the brains of mothers versus non-mothers, the researchers found that nerve cells in parts of the brain important for tending to offspring were larger and more richly connected to other cells. The mothers' brains also showed newly formed clusters of cells that the researchers referred to as "maternal circuits".

Although most studies like this are done on animals, said Kinsley, it's likely that human women will also have similar benefits because the same regions of the brain are used in maternal behaviours.