A curious relationship between feeling level and cognitive function in female brain during pregnancy and childbearing

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlations between feeling levels and cognitive functions in a women's brain during a time of pregnancy and childbearing. One hundred and fourteen women ranging in age from 23-43 years (mean ± SD: 31.8 ± 4.3) took part in our experiment. Seventy-nine women were pregnant (mean age ± SD: 32.1 ± 4.9) and 35 were not pregnant (mean age ± SD: 31.1 ± 4.4). All the pregnant women were expecting their first child. Concerning the pregnant group, 33 women (mean age ± SD: 32.0 ± 4.0) continued with our experiment after their childbearing was concluded. On four questionnaire categories established by Hanazawa's protocol, we assessed each subject's feeling level for a child, a husband, a mood and their health. At the same time, we instructed them to carry out five kinds of tests: simple reaction, SR; choice reaction, CR; working memory, WM; one card learning, OC; and divided attention, DA using card games through a cognitive function test called “CogHealth”. The accuracies relating to the CR task in the postnatal women were significantly lower (t(18)=2.42, P <; 0.05), depending on the questionnaire scores about positive feelings for their husband. In the postnatal group, there was also an inverse correlation between their positive feelings for their child and a quick response to OC leaning (r= -0.46, P <; 0.05). Furthermore, the pregnant women who perceived that the women themselves might be in an unhealthy state were significantly higher in accuracy for the DA task among the five CogHealth tasks than pregnant women who believed their health was sound (t(77)=2.00, P <; 0.05). There were also no significant differences between subjects who considered themselves healthy and those who considered themselves unhealthy in each of the other two groups. Our findings confirm that pregnant and postnatal women's feeling levels are closely connected with their cognitive functions.