Baby brain a myth - study

Baby brain is all in the mind, Australian researchers say after a study failed to show any sign of motherhood impeding a woman's cognitive function.

Professor Helen Christensen, from the Australian National University, said it was a myth that a woman would naturally become more forgetful and absent-minded during pregnancy.

Earlier studies which seemed to confirm this may have been biased, she said, by the recruitment of women who were pre-conditioned to expect it or just plain sleep deprived or depressed.

"Part of the problem is that pregnancy manuals tell women they are likely to experience memory and concentration problems, so women and their partners are primed to attribute any memory lapse to the hard to miss physical sign of pregnancy,'' Prof Christensen said.

"Not so long ago, pregnancy was confinement and motherhood meant the end of career aspirations (but) our results show that mothers are the intellectual equal of their contemporaries.''

The research took in more than 1200 young women who underwent an initial cognitive test and then follow-up examinations in 2003 and 2007.

Despite many of the women being pregnant when the follow-up tests were conducted, the study showed ``no significant differences'' in their brain functioning.

There was also no differences between the women who had a child and those who did not during the study window.

Pregnancy and motherhood had no impact on cognitive functioning, Prof Christensen said, and this unfounded belief should be addressed.

"Women and their partners need to be less automatic in their willingness to attribute common memory lapses to a growing or new baby,'' she said.

"Obstetricians, family doctors and midwives may need to use the findings from this study to promote the fact that placenta brain is not inevitable.''

The study, Cognition in pregnancy and motherhood: prospective cohort study, is published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

- AAP