Episode Details

The team began following Chrastil shortly before she became pregnant through in vitro fertilization. During the pregnancy and for two years after she gave birth, they continued doing MRI brain scans and blood tests to see how her brain changed. During this time, Chrastil’s sex hormones, like estrogen, increased and decreased. Some of the changes continued past pregnancy. 

在克拉斯蒂尔通过体外受精怀孕前不久，研究小组开始追踪她。在她怀孕期间和产后两年内，他们继续进行核磁共振脑部扫描和血液测试，以了解她的大脑如何变化。在此期间，克里斯提尔的性激素（如雌激素）增加或减少。一些变化在怀孕后持续存在。 

Emily Jacobs is with the University of California, Santa Barbara and was also a co-writer of the study. Jacobs said earlier studies had taken scans of the brain before and after pregnancy. But she said, none had shown changes in the brain as they were taking place. 

艾米丽·雅各布斯 (Emily Jacobs) 来自加州大学圣巴巴拉分校，也是该研究的合著者。雅各布斯说，早期的研究已经在怀孕前后对大脑进行了扫描。但她说，没有一个实验显示出大脑在发生变化时发生的变化。 

Unlike past studies, this one centered on many inner areas of the brain as well as the cerebral cortex, the outermost area, said Joseph Lonstein. He is a professor of neuroscience and psychology at Michigan State University and was not involved in the research. 

约瑟夫·朗斯坦说，与过去的研究不同，这项研究集中于大脑的许多内部区域以及大脑皮层（最外层的区域）。他是密歇根州立大学神经科学和心理学教授，并未参与这项研究。 

Lonstein said it is “a good first step to understanding much more about whole-brain changes that could be possible in a woman across pregnancy and postpartum.” 

朗斯坦说，这是“更好地了解女性在怀孕和产后可能发生的全脑变化的良好第一步。” 

Research in animals has linked some brain changes with qualities that could help the animal care for an infant. The new study does not deal with what the changes mean in terms of human behavior. 

对动物的研究发现，一些大脑变化与有助于动物照顾婴儿的品质有关。这项新研究并未涉及这些变化对人类行为意味着什么。 

However, Lonstein said that it does describe changes in brain areas involved in social cognition, or thinking. This is how people act with others -- for example, how they understand their thoughts and feelings. 

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