City Libraries, City of Gold Coast

Baby brain, Sarah McKay

eng

Includes bibliographical references

illustrations

no index present

non fiction

Baby brain

bibliography

Sarah McKay

If you think baby brain is bad for you, think again - because neuroscientist Dr Sarah McKay (author of The Women's Brain Book) has looked at studies and talked to experts from all over the world and the proof is in: giving birth is one of the best things to ever happen to a woman's brain. Moreover, the positive effects of baby brain last well beyond the baby stage - even into old age, with elderly mothers' brains showing resilience to ageing. Plus, the benefits of baby brain show up for non-birth parents - even fatherhood has a profound effect on the hormones and brains of men.This fascinating book weaves together baby brain research and interviews with neuroscientists and women's health specialists - many of whom are mothers - with personal experiences from parents concerning baby brain, nesting, maternal instinct, social support, anxiety and sleep. In each aspect the conclusion is clear: having a baby improves a mother's memory, and makes her smarter and more empathetic, intuitive and socially savvy. Baby Brain contains the ultimate good-news story about mothers' brains, backed up by scientific research from leading experts and presented in highly readable bite-sized sections by one of Australia's leading science communicators

Introduction -- The pregnant brain: preparing the mind for motherhood -- Cuteness and crying: how our brains respond -- Baby brain: is memory loss during pregnancy and early motherhood real? -- Nesting, nursing and maternal instincts -- On the same wavelength: mothers' and babies' brains are in sync -- The brains of fathers, grandmothers, alloparents and others -- Brains ageing gracefully: motherhood is for life -- Supporting new motherhood

Baby brain, the surprising neuroscience of how pregnancy and motherhood sculpt our brains and change our minds (for the better)