'Baby brain' is a myth - women's intelligence increases during motherhood, claims study



The popular belief that pregnancy addles women's brains is a myth, a comprehensive study suggests.



Mothers including Kate Winslet and Myleene Klass claim to have suffered 'baby brain' or 'preg head', characterised by lapses in memory or logical thinking.



But researchers who tracked 2,500 women over ten years found no difference between their brainpower before and during their pregnancies.



A study of 2,500 women found no difference in their brainpower before and during their pregnancies

In fact, the scientists believe, pregnancy and motherhood could actually improve women's mental abilities - and the improvement may be permanent.



They say that sleep deprivation and the common assumption that any forgetfulness during pregnancy is linked to the child are the most likely explanations for 'baby brain'.



Previous studies have claimed that pregnant women's brains decline in size and that they consistently perform worse than other women on tests for memory and verbal skills.



They have suggested that the difference could be as great as comparing the mental ability of someone aged 20 with someone aged 60.



But Professor Helen Christensen, of the Australian National University in Canberra, said her study is superior to previous research because it compares the same women before and during pregnancy.



'Women often report problems with memory and reasoning after they become pregnant,' she said. 'But the latest findings from our decade-long study, the most in-depth to look at this issue, has proven they do not.'



Kate Winslet, pictured at four months' pregnant in 2000, and Myleene Klass, pictured in 2007, both claim to have suffered from 'baby brain'



The researchers studied 2,500 women aged from 20 to 24, first in 1999 and then again in 2004 and 2008.



'We found that women who were pregnant during the second or third batch of interviews performed the same on tests of logic and memory as they did before, and there was no difference between the pregnant women and the controls,' she said.



'It really leaves the question open as to why women - and often their partners - think they have poor memories, when the best evidence we have is that they don't.



'Perhaps women notice minor lapses in mental ability and then attribute it to being pregnant because that is the most significant thing in their mind at the time.



'Or sleep deprivation could mask the positive cognitive effects.'



Professor Christensen added that emerging research strongly suggests women's

brains actually change for the better with motherhood.



'Thus one might assume that women were more likely to have better, not worse, mental ability during pregnancy compared to before, and that the improvements could be permanent,' she said.



Research carried out last year by Dr Craig Kinsley, of Richmond University in Virginia, suggests that giving birth supercharges brainpower to equip women for the challenge of rearing their child.



He believes having a baby produces a surge of memory and learning ability that makes women more vigilant and alert.



Hormonal fluctuations during birth and breastfeeding increase the size of cells in some areas of the brain, leading to dramatic improvements in mental capacity.



Studies on animals including rats and primates found mothers become much braver, are up to five times faster at finding food and have better spatial awareness than those without offspring.



Dr Kinsley said: 'While a woman may experience an apparent loss of brain function while she is pregnant, this could be because parts of her brain are being remodelled in preparation for dealing with the complicated demands of child-rearing.



'The changes that kick in then could last for the rest of their lives, bolstering cognitive abilities and protecting them against degenerative diseases.'



