What: The story of cognitive neuroscientist Liz Chirastil, who made herself a guinea pig in her own experiment by getting 26 MRIs throughout her pregnancy and for two years after. Why? “‘The fact that we don’t know what happens to the brain when someone gets pregnant is remarkable,’ said Chrastil, who is now an associate professor of neurobiology and behavior at the University of California, Irvine. ‘This is a fundamental question.’”

Why it matters: The research found that brain volume overall decreased. “But the strength of the brain’s white matter—the connections that transmit information between brain cells—increased, something that had never before been observed. The findings are the first to reveal the dramatic changes that occur in a woman’s brain across pregnancy and suggest that the adult brain experiences extensive remodeling throughout life.”

Source: Wall Street Journal