A first-of-its-kind case study has highlighted the ways in which the brain changes throughout pregnancy, including decreases in gray matter volume, and increases in white matter.

BOSTON - There's more scientific proof that there is such a thing as "pregnancy brain." Every year, millions of pregnant women experience profound physical and hormonal changes, but what specifically happens to their brains?

The brain undergoes a "sweeping reorganisation" when a woman is expecting a baby, said The Guardian, and few areas are untouched by the process. Regular MRI scans from before conception until two years after childbirth revealed "widespread reorganisation" in the mother's brain, said the paper.

Based on 26 scans of one healthy 38-year-old woman's brain, scientists found "remarkable things" including changes to regions linked to socialising and emotional processing - some of which were still obvious two years after giving birth.

Pregnancy reshapes the brain, altering gray and white matter. Hormones drive these adaptations, offering new insights into maternal health.

White matter, which helps brain regions communicate, increased during pregnancy but returned to normal by birth.

During pregnancy, a woman experiences numerous changes in her body, including hormonal, cardiovascular, respiratory, and digestive shifts. However, until recently, there was little documented evidence regarding changes in the brain during this time.