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In Pregnancy, The Brain Changes In Remarkable Ways, A New Study Shows
During pregnancy, the female body goes through a variety of physical changes, including additional blood in the body, faster heart rate, increased work on the kidneys, deeper breathing, and alterations to the digestive tract that may cause heartburn, nausea, or vomiting.
Previous research shows that pregnancy hormones can also cause changes in the brain.
Now, researchers from the University of California — Santa Barbara have for the first time shown how hormonal shifts alter the brain throughout pregnancy, including changes to the amount of white and gray matter in the brain.
For this study, researchers followed a 38-year-old woman, taking 26 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and blood draws starting 3 weeks preconception up to 2 years following childbirth.
"The brain is an endocrine organ, and sex hormones are potent neuromodulators, but a lot of that knowledge comes from animal studies," Emily G. Jacobs, PhD, associate professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences at the University of California – Santa Barbara and senior author of this study explained to Medical News Today.
"Human studies tend to rely on brain imaging and endocrine assessments that are collected from groups of people observed at a single point in time. But that kind of group averaging approach can't tell us anything about how the brain is changing day to day or week to week, as hormones ebb and flow," she pointed out.
"My lab here at UC Santa Barbara uses precision imaging methods to understand how the brain responds to major neuroendocrine transitions — the circadian cycle, the menstrual cycle, menopause, and now one of the largest neuroendocrine transitions that a human can experience, pregnancy," Jacobs told us.
Upon analyzing the MRI scans, Jacobs and her team discovered the most noticeable changes to the study participant's brain throughout her pregnancy was a reduction in cortical gray matter volume, which persisted after giving birth.
The majority of the outside layer of the brain consists of gray matter, which has a main job of processing information in the brain and helps control thoughts, emotions, memory, and muscle movement.
"Sometimes people bristle when they hear that gray matter volume decreases during pregnancy, but this probably isn't a bad thing. This change reflects the 'fine-tuning' of neural circuits, not unlike the cortical thinning that happens during puberty. In both cases, this adaptive process enables the brain to become more specialized."
"Think of Michealangelo's David," she illustrated. "The artist starts with a block of marble and the underlying beauty is revealed through the art of removal by carefully honing and fine-tuning the material. With the brain, this process happens early in development, again during puberty, and pregnancy probably reflects another wave of cortical refinement."
Additionally, scientists found noteworthy increases in white matter located deeper in the brain, which they reported peaked in the second trimester and returned to normal pre-pregnancy levels around the time of birth.
About 60% of the brain consists of white matter, which connects different areas of the brain together to help with communication for focus, learning, and balancing while moving.
"There is so much about the neurobiology of pregnancy that we don't understand yet," Jacobs said. "It's not because women are too complicated; it's not because pregnancy is some Gordian knot. It's a byproduct of the fact that the biomedical sciences often ignore women's health. It's 2024 and this is the first glimpse we have at this fascinating neurobiological transition and our ignorance has consequences."
"Scientists don't have the data we need to predict postpartum depression before it manifests; we don't have the data we need to understand the effects of preeclampsia on later life brain health," she continued.
"We need better data. Women are half of the population, but only [approximately] 10% of the NIH [National Institutes of Health] budget goes to conditions that primarily affect women. Of the 50,000 human brain imaging articles published in the last 30 years, less than half of 1% focus on health factors unique to women. So when we talk about the 'scientific body of knowledge' let's consider, whose body does it serve?"
– Emily G. Jacobs, PhD
After reviewing this study, Clifford Segil, DO, neurologist at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, told MNT he found this research to be fascinating and thought-provoking.
"I think it is so cool that we [can] image a woman's brain while pregnant with an MRI without causing any harm to the mother and their developing baby as MRI does not use radiation and wiggle people's electrons," Segil told us.
"It is fascinating to see data that suggests a pregnant mother has a transient increase of white matter with a decrease in gray matter while pregnant," he added.
However, he also noted that the research highlights just how many questions about brain changes in pregnancy still remain unanswered. Chief among these is: What purpose do these changes actually serve?
"The way that I describe gray matter is a computer room full of servers and computers and the gray matter is all of the computers on these server racks," said Segil.
And, he continued, "the way that I describe white matter is a computer room with countless wires, extension cords, networking cables and the white matter is all of these interconnections."
"During pregnancy, this paper demonstrated, the mom [whose case the researchers] studied had a decrease in the amount of 'computers' running, with an increase in the amount of 'cables' running around her brain. Imagine a room with extra surge protectors, extension cords, network wires is like a pregnant woman's brain, which is fascinating. Like many things in neuroscience, the next step will be to ask why and how this knowledge can help a pregnant woman's health."
– Clifford Segil, DO
MNT also spoke with G. Thomas Ruiz, MD, a board-certified OB/GYN and lead OB/GYN at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA, about this study.
Ruiz, who was also not involved in the study, said is it very important for researchers to continue to find ways in which pregnancy impacts different parts of the body, such as the brain.
"It's really important because there are some really negative impacts that can occur with hormones of pregnancy, specifically depressive states and , which is a major mental health issue," Ruiz explained.
"So you really want to understand those processes to come up with better, more viable treatments for these types of disorders, because you're talking about mood disorders," he emphasized.
"I think [researchers] need to continue to take a look at the complete interaction of hormones with neurotransmitters, so that we can get an accurate true understanding of how this interaction occurs," Ruiz concluded.
Ultra-Processed Foods In Children Linked To Pediatric Asthma And Allergies
Increased levels of fructose, carbonated soft drinks, and free sugar consumption may be associated with a higher risk for asthma, allergic rhinitis, and food allergies in children, researchers reported in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology.
The systematic review assessed evidence for a potential association between ultra-processed foods (UPF) consumption and allergic outcomes, including atopy, asthma, wheezing, allergic rhinitis, food allergy, and atopic dermatitis.
A literature search was performed on June 15, 2023, in the PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, CINAHL, Scielo.Br, and Google Scholar databases for studies conducted on humans with original data and that considered exposure to UPF in pregnant and breastfeeding women and children.
The researchers reviewed 21 cohorts (26 studies) for allergy outcomes, 16 studies on the gut microbiome, and 3 studies on UPF effects on the immune system.
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The existing evidence underscores the importance of dietary choices, especially during pregnancy and early childhood, in the development of allergic diseases, suggesting the importance of intervention in early life.
Research showed differences in microbiome composition and metabolism in individuals who consumed high levels of UPFs vs those who consumed low levels of UPFs. UPFs associated with microbiome changes include sugar-sweetened beverages, artificially sweetened beverages, and processed meats. Increased UPF consumption also has been linked to elevated levels of inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-8.
Studies have found that maternal consumption of fructose and free sugars in pregnancy was associated with an increased risk for childhood asthma. Carbonated soft drink consumption in pregnancy has been associated with an increased prevalence of childhood asthma and allergic rhinitis in offspring. Consumption of commercial baby food in early childhood has been linked to oral food challenge (OFC)-confirmed food allergies in children.
Other research found that increased consumption of free fructose beverages and fruit juice drinks was linked to increased self-reported allergic symptoms and asthma prevalence in children and adolescents. Increased carbohydrate-rich food intake has been linked to greater asthma severity in children.
A monosodium glutamate-restricted diet for 1 week in children was reported to be associated with improvement in those with atopic dermatitis. UPF consumption also has been associated with asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis in children.
In addition, exposure to advanced glycation end (AGE) products may be associated with atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, asthma, food allergy, and sensitization. Investigators found an association between higher AGE consumption and increased odds of wheezing, wheeze-disrupted sleep, and wheezing requiring prescription medication in children.
Limitations include the absence of clinician-verified or OFC-proven outcomes in some studies, and many studies did not use validated questionnaires or standardized procedures. Also, information was frequently unavailable on confounding factors such as body mass index and comorbidities.
"The existing evidence underscores the importance of dietary choices, especially during pregnancy and early childhood, in the development of allergic diseases, suggesting the importance of intervention in early life," the researchers stated.
Disclosure: Some of the study authors declared affiliations with biotech, pharmaceutical, and/or device companies. Please see the original reference for a full list of authors' disclosures.
Nearly 200 Chemicals Linked To Breast Cancer Found In Food Packaging
Food sold in shrink wrap, on cardboard trays or in paper containers might contain any of nearly 200 chemicals linked to breast cancer, a new study warns. Photo by Adobe Stock/HealthDay News
Food sold in shrink wrap, on cardboard trays or in paper containers might contain any of nearly 200 chemicals linked to breast cancer, a new study warns.
Commonly used food packaging materials contain 189 chemicals that can potentially cause breast cancer, researchers reported Tuesday in the journal Frontiers in Toxicology.
These hazardous chemicals -- including PFAS, bisphenols and phthalates -- can migrate from packaging into food, and thus be ingested by people, researchers said.
"This study is important, because it shows that there is a huge opportunity for prevention of human exposure to breast cancer-causing chemicals," said researcher Jane Muncke, managing director of the non-profit Food Packaging Forum. "The potential for cancer prevention by reducing hazardous chemicals in your daily life is under-explored and deserves much more attention."
The Food Packaging Forum has compiled a comprehensive database of chemicals contained in food packaging, based on information gathered from thousands of published scientific studies.
Using the database, researchers identified 143 chemicals used in plastic packaging materials that are linked to breast cancer, and 89 were found in paper or cardboard, results show.
There's strong evidence that humans are regularly exposed to at least 76 of those cancer-causing chemicals through diet, researchers said.
These chemicals are finding their way into food packaging despite regulations in the United States, the European Union, China, South America and elsewhere aimed at limiting their use, researchers said.
About 40 of the 76 top cancer-causing chemicals are already classified as hazardous in some way by various international regulators but are still being found in food packaging, the researchers noted.
This shows that existing rules aren't enough to protect human health, researchers said.
This study comes on the heels of another report published by the same group last week that found that more than 3,600 chemicals leach into food during the packaging process.
Of those, 79 chemicals are known to cause cancer, genetic mutations and endocrine and reproductive issues, according to the report published in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology.
More information
Consumer Reports has more on chemicals in food packaging.
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