Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Incorporating cutting-edge research, Chelsea Conaboy explodes the myth of "mommy brain" and takes us inside the latest neuroscience of postpartum parenthood in Mother Brain...
Synopsis
Mother Brain: How Neuroscience Is Rewriting the Story of Parenthood by Chelsea Conaboy
Synopsis
Incorporating cutting-edge research, journalist Chelsea Conaboy explodes the myth of "mommy brain" and takes us inside the latest neuroscience of new parenthood.
Before Chelsea Conaboy gave birth to her first child, she anticipated the joy of holding her newborn son, the endless stream of dirty diapers, and the sleepless nights. What she didn't expect was how different she would feel. It wasn't simply the extraordinary demands of this new role, but a shift in self--as deep as it was disorienting. In truth, something was changing: her brain.
The surge of hormones at childbirth sets off structural and functional changes in birthing parents' brains designed to help them meet their babies' basic needs in those tenuous first days, and then prepares them for a much longer period of learning how to parent. These changes are so dramatic that researchers studying brain anatomy can easily sort those who have had a pregnancy from those who haven't. And, scientists have discovered in recent years, it's not only the postpartum brain that changes. The brains of fathers and non-gestational parents--anyone really engaged in the work of caring for a baby--change in profound ways, too. The emerging science provides key insights into the wide-ranging experience of parenthood--from the intensity of emotions to the unexpected upsides to its larger role in shaping human nature. The story that exists in the science today is far more meaningful than the idea that mothers spring into being by instinct. Yet this science has remained almost entirely absent from the public conversation about what it means to be a parent.
Weaving the latest neuroscience and social psychology together with new reporting, Conaboy delves into the myths and realities of the parental brain, including generations of scientific neglect and societal pressures that have perpetuated a narrow, romanticized view. Mother Brain forms a powerful new narrative--one that will reframe the conversation about parenthood.
Synopsis
A groundbreaking exploration of the parental brain that untangles insidious myths from complicated realities, Mother Brain explodes the concept of "maternal instinct" and tells a new story about what it means to become a parent.
Before journalist Chelsea Conaboy gave birth, she anticipated the joy of holding her newborn, the endless dirty diapers, and the sleepless nights. What she didn't expect was how different she would feel--a shift in self, as deep as it was disorienting. Something was changing: her brain.
New parents undergo major brain changes, driven by hormones and the deluge of stimuli a baby provides. These neurobiological changes help all parents--birthing or otherwise--adapt in those intense first days and prepare for a long period of learning how to meet their child's needs. Yet this science is mostly absent from the public conversation about parenthood.
Conaboy delves into the neuroscience to reveal unexpected upsides, generations of scientific neglect, and a powerful new narrative of parenthood.
Synopsis
Health and science journalist Chelsea Conaboy explodes the concept of "maternal instinct" and tells a new story about what it means to become a parent.
Conaboy expected things to change with the birth of her child. What she didn't expect was how different she would feel. But she would soon discover what was behind this: her changing brain. Though Conaboy was prepared for the endless dirty diapers, the sleepless nights, and the joy of holding her newborn, she did not anticipate this shift in self, as deep as it was disorienting. Mother Brain is a groundbreaking exploration of the parental brain that untangles insidious myths from complicated realities.
New parents undergo major structural and functional brain changes, driven by hormones and the deluge of stimuli a baby provides. These neurobiological changes help all parents--birthing or otherwise--adapt in those intense first days and prepare for a long period of learning how to meet their child's needs. Pregnancy produces such significant changes in brain anatomy that researchers can easily sort those who have had one from those who haven't. And all highly involved parents, no matter their path to parenthood, develop similar caregiving circuitry. Yet this emerging science, which provides key insights into the wide-ranging experience of parenthood, from its larger role in shaping human nature to the intensity of our individual emotions, is mostly absent from the public conversation about parenthood.
The story that exists in the science today is far more meaningful than the idea that mothers spring into being by instinct. Weaving the latest neuroscience and social psychology together with new reporting, Conaboy reveals unexpected upsides, generations of scientific neglect, and a powerful new narrative of parenthood.