Post-partum focus shifting to brain

LOS ANGELES – Postpartum depression is often blamed on dramatic hormonal changes inside the bodies of new mothers. Estrogen, progesterone and cortisol all drop dramatically in the hours after childbirth, and some women are thought to be particularly sensitive to this. But a new study suggests an alternate explanation. The brains of women suffering from postpartum depression reacted differently to images of faces that were scared or angry than did the brains of healthy moms.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and the Cardiff University School of Medicine in Britain performed MRI scans on 30 new moms four to 13 weeks after their deliveries. While in the scanner, the women were shown pairs of faces.

Compared with the 16 healthy mothers, the 14 mothers who were suffering from postpartum depression showed significantly less activity in the part of the brain which is involved in emotional responses as well as “the social cognition network that allows an individual to recognize and consider the emotional experiences, values, and goals of others,” according to the study. That could explain why the depressed mothers were less attuned to the feelings of others, including their babies, the researchers wrote.

The study was published online Wednesday in the American Journal of Psychiatry.