Structural and Functional Brain Changes due to Pregnancy and Early Postpartum Period: A Systematic Review

Sammanfattning: A big part of the female population experience pregnancy and giving birth. Evidence from animal studies indicates numerous adaptations in the brain throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period. The effects on the human brain are not as well studied, which is problematic due to the complexity of comparing species. Therefore, a systematic review of existing research regarding the structural and functional brain changes in humans, due to pregnancy and early postpartum period, was conducted. Databases used for the search were PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. The literature search and screening process resulted in eight studies included for data extraction. The included studies have a wide range of methods, where four studies used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), one near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), and one study used electroencephalography (EEG) and MRI. The result indicates that the female brain is smaller and anatomically older during pregnancy but quickly restores after delivery. It also showed that normal changes in brain function occur during pregnancy and early postpartum period. The main limitation in this review were the lack of studies, and their heterogeneity of neuroimaging techniques, study design, and time of measurement. More studies during pregnancy or shortly after delivery are needed to fully understand the effects pregnancy has on the human female brain.