ArticleNature communications2022
Mapping the effects of pregnancy on resting state brain activity, white matter microstructure, neural metabolite concentrations and grey matter architecture.
Article in Nature communications, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 54 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
54 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 89 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Prevalence of Physical Intimate Partner Violence During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period: A Systematic Review With Implications for Probable Violence-Caused Brain Injury Among Child Bearers.Trauma, violence & abuse · 2026Pooled it
- Mindfulness-based stress reduction intervention during pregnancy changes maternal brain.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Puberty, pregnancy, and menopause show shared and distinct structural changes across the lifespan.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Examining dynamic changes in prefrontal connectivity and internalizing symptoms during the first and third trimesters of pregnancy.Journal of neuroendocrinology · 2026Article
- Bonding before birth: Maternal-fetal attachment and maternal cortical connectivity in late pregnancy.Journal of neuroendocrinology · 2026Article
- Beyond 'Baby Brain': Memory and Sleep Health During Pregnancy-A Biopsychosocial Perspective.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Triple Network Neuroplasticity and Perinatal Mood Symptoms from Preconception to Postpartum: A Pilot Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Application of generative artificial intelligence (AI) to support pain neuroscience research in persons who are pregnant.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- Maternal brain alterations based on neurotransmitter and hormone receptor distributions over six months postpartum.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Maternal depression symptoms as a context for longitudinal changes in the perinatal brain and infant emotion outcomes.Archives of women's mental health · 2026Article
- Neural variability across the transition to motherhood: Enhanced moment-to-moment neural variability during mentalizing in first-time mothers.Journal of neuroendocrinology · 2026Article
- Postpartum Psychosis and Bipolar Disorder: Review of Neurobiology and Expert Consensus Statement on Classification.Biological psychiatry · 2026Review
- GABAergic Neuroactive Steroids and Network States: Relevance to Peripartum Depression.Biological psychiatry · 2026Review
- Altered functional connectivity of emotional circuits and default mode network in postpartum women: a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- The PMADS Project: A Longitudinal Multimodal Cohort Study to Understand Risk for Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Brain anatomy in major hormonal transition phases: Longitudinal and cross-sectional volume associations with menarche and menopause.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- High-resolution in utero SV2A PET imaging of the nonhuman primate brain using the NeuroEXPLORER.Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism · 2026Article
- The effects of a second pregnancy on women's brain structure and function.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Intrinsic resting-state connectivity and personal meaning across the transition to fatherhood.Emotion (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Article
- Appetitive maternal behavior in mice is resistant to perinatal chronic variable stress and perinatal chronic corticosterone treatment.Hormones and behavior · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
While animal studies have demonstrated a unique reproduction-related neuroplasticity, little is known on the effects of pregnancy on the human brain. Here we investigated whether pregnancy is associated with changes to resting state brain activity, white matter microstructure, neural metabolite concentrations and grey matter architecture using a comprehensive pre-conception cohort study. We show that pregnancy leads to selective and robust changes in neural architecture and neural network organization, which are most pronounced in the Default Mode Network. These neural changes correlated with pregnancy hormones, primarily third-trimester estradiol, while no associations were found with other factors such as osmotic effects, stress and sleep. Furthermore, the changes related to measures of maternal-fetal bonding, nesting behavior and the physiological responsiveness to infant cues, and predicted measures of mother-infant bonding and bonding impairments. These findings suggest there are selective pregnancy-related modifications in brain structure and function that may facilitate peripartum maternal processes of key relevance to the mother-infant dyad.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.