IT SEEMS pregnancy brain really does exist – as scans shed light on exactly how much having a baby can change the brain. Changes can linger for years after birth and only a few regions of

The brain undergoes a "sweeping reorganisation" when a woman is expecting a baby, said The Guardian, and few areas are untouched by the process. Regular MRI scans from before conception until two years after childbirth revealed "widespread reorganisation" in the mother's brain, said the paper.

A first-of-its-kind case study has highlighted the ways in which the brain changes throughout pregnancy, including decreases in gray matter volume, and increases in white matter.

A new study mapped how the brain responds to rapid hormonal changes during pregnancy, which could explain a wide range of experiences that pregnant women have, according to experts.

For the first time, scientists have observed the brain throughout the pregnancy timeline, from pre-conception to postpartum.

Changes that sweep the the human brain during pregnancy have been documented for the first time, using precise MRI scans. Scientists conducted 26 brain scans on and took blood samples from a healthy 38-year-old woman,

During pregnancy, a woman experiences numerous changes in her body, including hormonal, cardiovascular, respiratory, and digestive shifts. However, until recently, there was little documented evidence regarding changes in the brain during this time.