Background: Pregnancy constitutes a significant period in the lives of women, after which they often experience numerous crucial physiological and psychological changes. Functional neuroimaging studies have shown longitudinal changes in functional brain activity in mothers responding to infant-related stimuli. However, the structural changes that occur in the brains of mothers after delivery remain to be explored. Objective: We aimed to evaluate the structural changes in mothers during the postpartum phase. Methods: We recruited 35 primiparous mothers and 26 nonmothers to participate in this voxel- and surface-based morphometry study, and 22 mothers were scanned twice with a follow-up of approximately 2 years. Results: Compared to nonmothers, mothers exhibited reduced gray matter (GM) volumes and increased white matter (WM) volumes in regions associated with empathy and reward networks (supplementary motor area, precuneus, inferior parietal lobe, insula, and striatum), decreased cortical thickness in the precentral gyrus and increased gyrification index in the orbitofrontal cortex. Furthermore, mothers showed longitudinal changes in the GM and WM volumes and cortical thickness of several of these regions (including the superior and medial frontal gyrus, insula, limbic lobe, superior and middle temporal gyrus, and precentral gyrus), which have been associated with maternal networks during the postpartum period. Additionally, the changes in GM and WM volumes were related to changes in empathetic abilities in mothers. Conclusion: These results suggest that the brains of mothers exhibit adaptive structural dynamic plasticity. These findings provide a neuroanatomical basis for understanding how mothers process emotional sensory information during the postpartum period.

中文翻译：

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与母亲照料相关的脑结构可塑性：基于体素和表面的形态测量研究

背景：怀孕是女性生命中的一个重要时期，在此之后她们经常会经历许多重要的生理和心理变化。功能性神经影像学研究表明，母亲对婴儿相关刺激的反应会发生功能性大脑活动的纵向变化。然而，分娩后母亲大脑中发生的结构变化仍有待探索。目的：我们旨在评估产后阶段母亲的结构变化。方法：我们招募了 35 名初产母亲和 26 名非母亲参加这项基于体素和表面的形态测量研究，并对 22 名母亲进行了两次扫描，随访时间约为 2 年。结果：与非母亲相比，母亲在与共情和奖赏网络（辅助运动区、楔前叶、下顶叶、脑岛和纹状体）相关的区域中表现出灰质 (GM) 体积减少和白质 (WM) 体积增加，中央前回皮质厚度减少和眶额皮质的旋转指数增加。此外，母亲表现出其中几个区域（包括额上回和内侧额回、岛叶、边缘叶、颞上回和中回以及中央前回）的 GM 和 WM 体积和皮质厚度的纵向变化，这与产后时期的母体网络。此外，GM 和 WM 量的变化与母亲同理心能力的变化有关。结论：这些结果表明母亲的大脑表现出适应性结构动态可塑性。这些发现为理解产后母亲如何处理情绪感官信息提供了神经解剖学基础。