Fairfax County Library: 306.8743, Conaboy 2022

Author: Chelsea Conaboy, writes about personal and public health, Boston Globe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of The Boston Marathon Bombing

Abstract

Something is expected to change with the birth of a child, but it is surprising to see how different one would feel, the main change seems to be brain, the change and shift is deep , as it was disorienting. Mother Brain is a ground breaking exploration of the parental brain that untangles insidious myths from complicated realities. New parents undergo major structual and functional brain changes, driven by hormones and the deluge of stimuli a baby provides. These neurobiological changes help all parents – birthing or otherwise - adapt in those intense first days and prepare for a long period of learning how to meet their child’s needs. Pregnancy produces such significant changes in brain anatomy that researchers can easily soft theose who have had one from those who haven’t. And all highly involved parents, no matter their path to parenthood, develop similar caregiving circuitry. Yeah this emerging science, which provides key insights into the wide-ranging experience of parenthood.

Review from Amazon

“Digging into neurological and cognitive research on becoming a parent, Conaboy contends that caregiving isn’t as instinctual as often assumed…Conaboy’s detailed research and eye-opening myth-busting add up to a cogent argument…Surprising and enlightening, this should be required reading for all caregivers.” ―Publishers Weekly, starred review

“[Conaboy] deploys her journalistic skill to bring this complex subject to a readable level…Conaboy’s book isn’t a parenting manual but rather a work of pop science jam-packed with neurobiological research; it’s both fascinating and surprisingly readable…Highly recommended.” ―Library Journal, starred review

“[A]n engaging book debut…The author deftly translates scientific studies―by neurobiologists, anthropologists, primatologists, psychologists, and endocrinologists, among others―into accessible prose that speaks to needs and anxieties that many parents share.” ―Kirkus Reviews

“Mother Brain offers a science-based reassurance that ‘unlike a rigid instinct, [parental aptitude] also can be repaired and redirected’ by any motivated caregiver.” ―Science Magazine

The book is a great compilation of recent/current research in neurobiology, hormones, brain chemistry, and parenthood. The studies are fascinating.

That said, although I usually find books like this mind candy and gobble them up, I found this one tough slogging. It felt repetitive, with reiterations of “this is how the brain becomes more flexible, and THIS is how the brain becomes more flexible, and THIS is another example of how the brain becomes more flexible.”

Like the author, I wish there were more cross-cultural studies, including studies of indigenous cultures; and more studies on, say, parents who are on the autism spectrum and/or dealing with newborns who are later diagnosed as on the spectrum. And I found the short pieces of individual stories engaging and wish the book had broken up the studies with more of these.

Chapters

  • At the Flip of a Switch
  • The Makings of a Mother’s Instinct
  • Attention, Please
  • Our Babies, Our Selves
  • The Ancient Family Tree
  • Inclined to Care
  • Start Where You Are
  • The One in the Mirror
  • Between Us

Keywords

brain, parenthood, neurosicence, flexibility

References