Pregnancy causes long-term changes to brain structure, says study

Decrease in volume of grey matter in certain areas of the brain could help boost a mother's ability to care for her child, research suggests

Pregnancy appears to trigger long-term changes in brain structure, researchers have revealed, suggesting that the transformations could boost a mother's ability to care for her newborn baby.

The study, based on brains scans, found that the volume of grey matter in certain regions of the brain decreased in women who had been pregnant - a shift that was found to last for at least two years.