‘Baby brain’: Vancouver Island psychology professor dives into mom memory loss

“Did I lock the door?”

“Did I remember diapers?”

“When’s the last time the baby was fed?”

If you’re a mother, the above (and many more) questions may be all too familiar to you—but the good news is, it may not just be you—and there may be some science behind the phenomenon we fondly refer to as “baby brain”.

Dr. Marla Morden, a Vancouver Island University (VIU) Psychology Professor, is currently researching just that.

‘Mommy brain’ or ‘baby brain’ is typically viewed as a time of ‘cognitive decline’ with symptoms such as memory loss or brain fog.

But Morden says researchers are starting to see it more as a time of reorganization, and notes that there are some positive gains during pregnancy and the early postpartum period.

“There are not only deficits happening, but we also think there are some areas where pregnant women show advantages in terms of their thinking and memory processes,” Morden says in a media release.

“There is some intriguing research showing that pregnant women are more vigilant to threat-related stimuli. This can be things like people who are sick because pregnant women’s immune systems are suppressed, which means the developing fetus can be more vulnerable to different pathogens.”

Additionally, emerging evidence also indicates that pregnancy is a sensitive period for information processing—pregnant women seem to be more responsive to faces and facial expressions, and they seem to have a better memory for faces, according to Morden.

Eye-tracking technology—specifically, eye-tracking glasses—is what Morden is using to conduct her research. The technology measures eye movements, pupil position and dilation and what the person is focusing on or what they ignore.

Three categories of stimuli are being researched, and she’ll expose research participants to posters of infants, people who are sick, and of faces.

Also, she plans to have some studies with mothers interacting with their babies to see what the mother concentrates on.

“This is critical foundational research to understand what pregnant women are vigilant or attuned to,” says Morden.

“There is an emerging body of research suggesting that when women are very stressed out, or if they’re experiencing anxiety or depression, this can have a long-term negative impact on the developing fetus. Understanding what captures pregnant women’s attention may help us to plan interventions and help to support mother and infant health.”

The research is being conducted thanks to $85,248 in funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the BC Knowledge Development Fund and other funding sources.

Morden received the funding jointly alongside Dr. Yoichi Mukai, a VIU Modern Language Studies Professor.

The grant is helping to establish the Vancouver Island University Eye-Tracking Hub, which will create capacity in the central Island region for non-invasive cognitive assessment research.