Why does a woman become foolish for three years when she’s pregnant?

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{:3_56:} Lately, the \"leader\" at home has been forgetting words while writing and forgetting where he’s going while pressing the accelerator. Repeatedly taught, she also felt deep remorse time and again. That day, after holding back for a long time, she blurted out, “Hmph!” Don’t blame me! It’s your fault your child went; carrying a baby makes you stupid for three years, that’s what my mom said. ”Hearing this, I felt a bit puzzled: being a mother is such a difficult task, so one would think that the brain should become even more efficient as a result. To clear the child’s name, solid evidence really does have to be presented. 　　　　 　　Pregnancy or its impact on brain volume: It’s not a serious issue to check; this phenomenon of \"pregnancy-induced dullness\" is actually a cross-cultural one, and it’s referred to in English as \"baby brain\". Several surveys have found that as high as 50%-80% of mothers complain that their brains have stopped working properly since becoming pregnant. The most common symptoms include memory loss, followed by reading difficulties and decreased attention. Among them, memory loss is the most prominent issue; doctors have even given it a specific name: pregnancy amnesia. Scientists have also found that the more professional women there are and the higher their educational level, the more such complaints there are. 　　　　 　　Is the old saying that \"a woman is foolish for three years after getting pregnant\" true? We certainly shouldn’t rush to draw conclusions, as memory loss is related to many factors in life, and it’s not necessarily caused by pregnancy. Moreover, sometimes one’s own feelings aren’t very reliable either. Indeed, American scientist Laura M. Glynn published an article titled “Giving Birth to a New Brain” in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology in January of this year. In this study, which the author claims to be \"the most comprehensive investigation to date into the relationship between human pregnancy, childbirth, and memory,\" Green found 254 pregnant women and 48 women who had never given birth, and tested their memory in stages. Green found that pregnant women and women in the control group performed similarly in tests of counting sequences and remembering faces, but pregnant women were slightly weaker in the test of recalling words based on sounds. This modest result might actually surprise some scientists, as there are significant changes in the bodies of pregnant women, especially with regard to hormone levels, which fluctuate wildly. For example, the estradiol level in women in late pregnancy is 30 times higher than the highest level it reaches during their menstrual cycle when they are not pregnant ； At the same time, the cortisol level in her body was already at the level seen in patients with depression. This is just the tip of the iceberg; I won’t list all the other hormonal changes. These hormones provide the necessary material support for the growth of the fetus and even for childbirth. But for expectant mothers, it isn’t necessarily that wonderful. Under the influence of these hormones, a pregnant woman’s brain volume can even decrease – Dr. Angela Oatridge and her colleagues at Hammersmith Hospital in London found that women’s brain volume drops by 4% during pregnancy. 　　 　　Rats that give birth have sharper minds. All of this poses a challenge for neurobiologists, as humans are not their ideal subjects of study. In comparison, they prefer little mice. The little mouse’s behavior came as a further shock to those who support the idea that pregnancy makes one stupid for three years. Most studies have found that, compared to “**” female mice, pregnant, lactating, and even post-weaning female mice perform significantly better in terms of memory and stress tolerance. A research team led by Naomi Hester from the University of Richmond in the United States conducted a study. Through three rounds of experiments, they found that rat mothers caught the cricket 5 times faster than unmated rats. In the classic \"cross-maze test,\" mother mice spent much more time in the bright branches than **female mice; for rats that prefer darkness, this means they are less \"anxious\". The research conducted by Liisa A.M. Galea’s team from the University of British Columbia in Canada was more detailed; they found that after weaning their first litter, rat mothers indeed had a reduced number of dendrites in the hippocampus, the brain region responsible for memory, whereas this number increased to levels higher than those when they were still females after giving birth to their second litter. However, whether they are \"first-time rats\" or \"experienced rats\", their ability to navigate mazes is higher than that of \"**rats\". In response, Galia explained that the decrease in the number of neural dendrites in the hippocampus of \"first-time mothers\" rats is a process of reshaping, akin to pruning in plant cultivation. 　　　　 　　In fact, these results are not surprising either, as compared to carefree young girls, mouse mothers face more challenges in life. It must keep in mind where food can be found, become more skilled at hunting, return to the nest more quickly, and better feed and protect its young. If the equipment is not upgraded, it cannot complete tasks effectively. 　　　　 　　Of course, compared to mice, human females have more complex brains, and they have faced countless complex challenges before becoming mothers; this may be the reason why human mothers do not exhibit a complete advantage over human girls. Of course, compared to mice, human mothers may face more troubles and difficulties, not only physical and physiological ones, but also many related to culture and society. I believe that if the fathers who are waiting or have already become full-time employees help share the workload with their family heads more, they won’t complain so often that they don’t have enough brainpower.