A Mother’s Brain: The New Science of the Neuro-Maternal Revolution Susana Carmona MIT Press (2026)

When I acquired a copy of the book A Mother’s Brain by neuroscientist Susana Carmona, I thought: at last, a book about what happens to your brain during pregnancy. I recalled how I’d realized in 1997, when I was a young assistant professor, soon after giving birth to my first child, that books for expectant or new parents were light on what happens to the brain. As a neuroscientist, I was curious. What was going on with my brain?

How menopause reshapes the brain

Another observation that I had was how jarring it was to go from having so much attention being paid to me when I was pregnant — including intrusive attention about what I was consuming and unwanted hands on my belly — to the utter lack of attention on me after my baby was born. All of the attention went from pregnant me to the baby. Fair enough, babies can be cute, but what about the mum? What was happening to me?…