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Updated: Jun 20, 2025

Using a Murine Model of Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy as a Translationally Relevant Paradigm for Psychiatric Disorders in Mothers and Infants
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Enduring maternal brain changes and their role in mediating motherhood's impact on well-being

Valentina Rotondi1,2,3, Michele Allegra4, Ridhi Kashyap5

  • 1SUPSI, Lugano, Switzerland. valentina.rotondi@supsi.ch.

Scientific Reports
|July 18, 2024
PubMed

Parenthood, particularly motherhood, is known to impact the structure and function of the brain in the short term, but the long-term effects of parenthood and their impacts on well-being are still poorly understood. This study explores the potential longer-term associations between parenthood and the brain, parenthood and well-being, and the potential role of brain modifications in influencing mothers' well-being. Using data from the UK Biobank, which includes brain imaging information from individuals aged 45-82 at the MRI scanning, we discovered differences in brain structure between mothers and non-mothers, with mothers exhibiting widely distributed higher gray matter density, particularly strong in frontal and occipital regions. No brain changes were observed in fathers. Parents reported a higher sense of life's meaning compared to their childless counterparts. Gray matter changes did not mediate the relationship between motherhood and well-being. This suggests that the alterations in gray matter associated with motherhood do not play a deterministic role in shaping long-term changes in well-being.

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