Your brain and body undergo constant change and upheaval to keep up with your petty conscious
wants.
If you start running marathons for some reason, your brain and body have to change, if you
go get a masters degree, your brain and body have to change again, and when you decide
to backpack the Appalachian Trail, your brain and body change again.
The thing is: marathons, master’s degrees, and backpacking are all great -- but what
about something less... ephemeral…
like, motherhood?
So, your mom prolly carried you inside her body.
And in doing so, it changed.
So.
Much.
Your introduction to her inner self changed her body, in some cases: forever.
Temporarily, the hormones released during pregnancy change how a mom sees, smells, and
how food tastes,
but some of her body structures, hair growth, and how her body stores fat and processes
food might change permanently.
On top of that, you change your mom’s brain!
(Maybe for the better?)
For example, multiple studies have shown mom brains got larger after they gave birth.
They grew new grey matter -- which normally doesn’t happen (according to one study)
without [quote] “significant learning, brain injury or illness, or major environmental
change.”
Meanwhile, another found parts of the brain associated with emotion, reasoning, rewards,
and sensations all changed to, but with decreases in grey matter!
Grey matter btw is where all the synapses (or brain connections) are.
Some studies even connect the amount of grey matter with overall intelligence.
But it’s not a fast rule.
Regardless, this is new research, so it’s hard to say exactly what’s going on, just
that the brain is changing pretty significantly.
Good or bad, one study found the grey matter change only lasted 2 years (bc remember the
body is constantly changing), but that’s still pretty cool.
And it’s not just physical, there are emotional tweaks that come along with all these changes
too!
Think about dopamine.
Dopamine is a reward chemical.
Something that makes you feel good.
It’s released anytime evolution wants to encourage a behavior -- which means when a
mom looks at her newborn BAM.
Dopamine.
Your mom answers the phone when you call, BAM, dopamine!
In a 2017 study, the researchers believe dopamine is where the bond between mother and infant
comes from.
For example, as a mom and baby got more in sync -- like if they make similar sounds -- the
more dopamine gets released!
Or, if the mom is attentive to the newborn she gets more connections in brain areas associated
with bonding.
Plus, dopamine.
Always dopamine.
The chemicals that support love are a big deal in the brain.
Namely dopamine (reward chemical), oxytocin (if you call this the love hormone i am turning
this video off right now) and vasopressin (connected to long-term bonding, and the feeling
of closeness).
A 2005 study looked at fMRI scans of 2,500 brains in the “throes of love” and found
ldopamine rich regions had lots of activity; specifically in the ventral tegmental, part
of the brain’s “reward circuit.”
Evolutionarily speaking, the “reward circuit” is extraordinarily old.
It’s the reason our instinctually driven predecessors did things that kept them alive.
Think: eating food, parenting, and bonding with others.
Evolution has wired us to love each other and to bond.
All these things activate the reward circuit -- and make your mom love you more.
In the end, love in the mom brain seems to make it bigger, and more connected, and maybe
more intelligent.
Plus, it’s got all that dopamine, vasopressin and oxytocin floating around to keep moms
rewarded, and bonded with their tiny humans.
But really, it’s just evolution saying, look at this little thing.
Love it.
Feed it.
Clean up its poop.
Pay to fix the car after he crashes into a sign at the high school.
Ahem.
Yeah, we don’t need to get into that.
Love you, Mom!
Happy Mother’s Day.
This episode was brought to you by Kay Jewelers – Every kiss begins with Kay.
Maybe you want all these changes, you’re ready!
You’re rarin!
Okay, so how hard is it to get pregnant…
We’ve got a video on that here.
Mom’s and Dad’s out there, did you change after your kid?
How?
Let us know in the comments, please don't forget to subscribe and thanks for watching.