Psychology Essay example -- Health, Pregnancy

Pregnancy can be a time of elation and ecstasy in a womans life, but few individuals leave alone experience a pregnancy completely devoid of side effectuate. numerous women experience universal physical symptoms such as nausea, weight pass and increased fatigue during pregnancy (Flaxman & Sherman, 2008). The processes associated with pregnancy and birth involves complex physiologic and psychological changes in a womans principal chemistry (Draganski & May, 2008). According to Kim et al. (2010), a woman whitethorn experience various physiological effects based on a combination of hormonal and mechanically skillful transformations during pregnancy (Kim, Leckman, Mayes, Feldman, Wang & Swain, 2010). Many pregnant women be informed to be vigilant of short-term retrospect loss, also known as pander brain. But studies performed by Christensen et al. (2010) provide scientific results that common belief of baby brain in pregnant women is a myth (Christensen, Leach & Mackinnon, 2 010). In fact, several women display cognitive modifications during pregnancy, such as an increase in world power to correctly perform reference memory tasks and complex spacial tasks (Kim, Leckman, Mayes, Feldman, Wang & Swain, 2010). Data presented by Kim et al. (2010) suggests that the brain of an expectant mother undergoes hormonal and morphological neurological changes in order to prepare itself for the physiological and psychological demands and responsibilities of maternity (Kim, Leckman, Mayes, Feldman, Wang & Swain, 2010). Reference MemoryReference memory refers to an individuals ability to recall previously learned facts and information through interactions within their surroundings (Draganski & May, 2008). A study composed by Draganski et al. (2008) to test reference memory in pregnant ... ...ggests that pregnancy not only has a confirmatory effect on aspects of cognition, but also provides influences on learning, decision making, motivation, and resource utilizat ion (Pawluski & Galea, 2006). Due to various ethical restrictions, the data compiled on experiments performed on pregnant female, human-brain specimens is limited. Despite the restrictions on availability of human data, findings from experiments on animals are still beneficial in relation to humans. Although some pregnant females may suffer from some form of temporary loss in ripe cognitive functioning, this loss does not have any permanent effects on brain functioning. Perceptions of cognitive impairment in pregnant women may reflect other factors such as stress, an increase in amiable focus on the pregnancy, or even sleep-loss, none of which fall into the household of being a cognitive deficit.