Anecdotal evidence suggests that many women feel that pregnancy produces memory problems and it has been suggested that this effect may affect 50%-80% of pregnant women. Earlier research showed a reduction of about 4% in brain size during pregnancy, but this returned to normal after giving birth. Further research showed a reduction in the volume Read the rest of this entry »
Posts tagged with brain
Many psychology students learn that the capacity of short-term memory is 7 ± 2. However in the cat book we review evidence that in fact it would be more accurate to say 4 ± 2 (see page 6, review by Cowan, 2001). In fact recent research has found that there is a link between this capacity and IQ – people with high IQs have greater STM capacity.
John Bowlby proposed, in his theory of attachment, that humans are ‘hardwired’ to respond to social releasers from infants – they can’t help but respond to an infant’s smiles or cries of distress and this responsiveness is in our genes. New research has provided evidence of the brain circuitry involved in this response. Dr. Madoka Noriuchi and his colleagues in Tokyo (2008, abstract) used a brain scanning technique (fMRI) to look at how mothers’ brains respond to infants who are happy or upset/crying. Certain areas were active when the mothers observed their own infant’s smiles and cries as opposed to other infants (in particular it was areas in the cerebral cortex and limbic system). Smiling and crying are attachment behaviours – they elicit caregiving from the infant’s mother figure and ensure safety for the infant. This research shows us the neurophysiological basis for the attachment response (maternal love) and supports the view that such a response is innate – because there is a specialised area in the brain that responds.