Becoming a mother may change the brain to read baby's mind

New mums experience many changes – including dramatic ones in the brain, as scans taken before and after pregnancy have revealed. Elseline Hoekzema at Leiden University in the Netherlands and her team compared brain scans of 25 first-time mothers with those of first-time fathers, plus childless men and women. After having a baby, the mums showed shrinking in some areas of the brain, changes not seen in any of the other groups. Most of the affected areas were in regions of the cerebral cortex that are particularly important for understanding others' intentions and emotions. These same areas became active in MRI scans when mothers viewed pictures of their own babies, but not when shown photos of other people's babies, suggesting these regions are specifically involved in mother-infant bonding.