Could a baby’s brain be a myth? Study finds women with young children have just as good memories and show no difference in cognitive function and speed compared to people without children
- The authors believe that mothers have worse memories due to long to-do lists
It is widely believed that new mothers suffer from ‘baby brain’ and are prone to forgetfulness and fuzzy thinking.
But a study suggests this may be a myth after discovering that people with young babies have just as good memories as non-mothers and have the same mental acuity.
However, mothers are more likely to believe that they have poor memories, perhaps because they have been convinced by society that they suffer from ‘baby brain’.
The researchers recruited 43 new mothers with babies 10 to 13 months old and compared them with 43 non-mothers of the same age, with a similar level of education.
Both groups completed a series of tests, lasting 90 minutes, including memorizing lists of words, repeating lists of numbers forward and backward, and deciphering the link between a set of numbers and symbols.
The results showed that there were no significant differences in memory, cognitive function, or mental processing speed between mothers and non-mothers.
With more to remember, they have more opportunities to forget things, so they may mistakenly think their memories have gotten worse.
The results, published in the Journal of Women’s Health, showed that there were no significant differences in memory, cognitive function, or mental processing speed between mothers and non-mothers.
But the mothers believed they had worse memories when asked a series of questions about their cognitive performance.
The authors suggest this may simply be because women with babies have a larger daily to-do list, such as the diaper bag, change of clothes, bottle, snacks, and toys that they need to pack every time they have to. leaving home.
With more to remember, they have more opportunities to forget things, so they may mistakenly think their memories have gotten worse.
Researcher Dr Sharna Jamadar, from the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health at Monash University in Australia, said: “There is such a focus on the baby brain that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.” Women with babies have many things to do, so they will be more aware when they make a mistake.
‘But there is no measurable difference between mothers and non-mothers. Women should realize that memory lapses are more about how much they have to drive than something wrong with their brain.
The results also showed that the mothers’ perception of the baby’s brain may be related to their well-being: their level of sleep, anxiety and depression. Mothers who scored worse on this were more likely to believe they had a bad memory.
Women may also believe they have baby brains because of the high stakes of motherhood, the authors suggest. A memory lapse when having a baby can have more serious consequences, like being stranded without a diaper change or forgetting a special teddy bear, leading to hours of crying.
Dr Jamadar said, “Motherhood can be really hard and women who want to be super organized feel disappointed in themselves when they mess up.”
“So motherhood can make women more sensitive to minor lapses in memory or concentration that might otherwise have been ignored or considered inconsequential before having a child.”
