Verbal and visuospatial working memory during pregnancy: EEG correlation between the prefrontal and parietal cortices

Almanza-Sepúlveda, Mayra Linné; Hernández‐González, Marisela; Hevia-Orozco, Jorge Carlos; Amezcua-Gutiérrez, Claudia; Guevara, Miguel Ángel

doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2017.12.003

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Memory deficit is a complaint of many women that increases during the perinatal period but also is more associated with depression and anxiety disorders 79 , 80 . There is evidence that women may utilize different parts of the brain to accomplish working memory tasks during different time points in pregnancy; and these different processes may result in women with anxiety having more stress in navigating the task, particularly in late pregnancy 81 . Another example where a longitudinal study would be beneficial is in understanding the finding with regards to SSRI users exhibiting less change in VLF between before and after completing the memory task, compared with those not taking SSRIs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heart rate variability in late pregnancy: exploration of distinctive patterns in relation to maternal mental health

et al. 2021

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Exploration of photoplethysmography (PPG), a technique that can be translated to the clinic, has the potential to assess the autonomic nervous system (ANS) through heart rate variable (HRV) in pregnant individuals. This novel study explores the complexity of mental health of individuals in a clinical sample responding to a task in late pregnancy; finding those with several types of past or current anxiety disorders, greater trait anxiety, or greater exposure to childhood traumatic events had significantly different HRV findings from the others in the cohort. Lower high frequency (HF), a measure of parasympathetic activity, was found for women who met the criteria for the history of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) (p = 0.004) compared with women who did not meet the criteria for OCD, and for women exposed to greater than five childhood traumatic events (p = 0.006) compared with those exposed to four or less childhood traumatic events. Conversely higher low frequency (LF), a measure thought to be impacted by sympathetic system effects, and the LF/HF ratio was found for those meeting criteria for a panic disorder (p = 0.006), meeting criteria for social phobia (p = 0.002), had elevated trait anxiety (p = 0.006), or exposure to greater than five childhood traumatic events (p = 0.004). This study indicates further research is needed to understand the role of PPG and in assessing ANS functioning in late pregnancy. Study of the impact of lower parasympathetic functioning and higher sympathetic functioning separately and in conjunction at baseline and in relation to tasks during late pregnancy has the potential to identify individuals that require more support and direct intervention.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heart rate variability in late pregnancy: exploration of distinctive patterns in relation to maternal mental health

et al. 2021

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“…In particular, the dorsolateral region and its functional connections with the posterior parietal cortex are primary in relation to both verbal and visuospatial working memory processes. Almanza-Sepúlveda et al (2018) found that although pregnancy had only a subtle effect on the visuospatial working memory task, different patterns of cortical synchronization were found in each trimester of pregnancy. They maintained that these patterns could represent adaptive mechanisms enabling the pregnant women to focus their attention and activate additional cognitive resources necessary to solve the working memory tasks adequately.…”

Section: Birthing Consciousness As a Case Of Transient Hypofrontalitymentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Numerous studies of maternal brain neuroplasticity indicate neurofunctional and neuroanatomical changes in the brain during pregnancy (Almanza-Sepúlveda, Hernández-González, Hevia-Orozco, Amezcua-Gutiérrez, & Guevara, 2018; Farrar, Tuffnell, Neill, Scally, & Marshall, 2014; Hoekzema et al, 2017; Kim, Strathearn, & Swain, 2016; Lübke, Busch, Hoenen, Schaal, & Pause, 2017; Macbeth & Luine, 2010; Roos, Robertson, Lochner, Vythilingum, & Stein, 2011). There has been surprisingly little brain research involving the specific episode of childbirth.…”

Section: Birthing Consciousness As a Case Of Transient Hypofrontalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Birthing Consciousness As a Case Of Transient Hypofrontalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pregnancy is a dynamic process during which significant cognitive changes take place, including changes affecting memory (Almanza-Sepúlveda et al, 2018; Glynn, 2010; Raz, 2014). Almanza-Sepúlveda et al (2018) examined cortical electroencephalographic correlations during performance of working memory tasks in each trimester of pregnancy. 8 Although the neural system responsible for working memory is known to involve a large number of brain regions, evidence from neurophysiological and lesion studies indicates that the prefrontal cortex is key.…”

Section: Birthing Consciousness As a Case Of Transient Hypofrontalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Birthing Consciousness as a Case of Adaptive Altered State of Consciousness Associated With Transient Hypofrontality

Dahan

2020

Perspect Psychol Sci

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In this article, I present the concept of “birthing consciousness,” a psychophysical altered state of women that can occur during natural and undisturbed birth. I demonstrate that this altered state of consciousness (ASC) has phenomenological and cognitive features of hypofrontality; thus, birthing consciousness probably shares a similar brain mechanism to that postulated by the transient-hypofrontality theory (THT). I argue that until recently (with the advent of modern medical intervention), in evolutionary terms, women lacking the proclivity for this specific brain mechanism had a lower chance of reproducing successfully. Hence, I suggest a general and preliminary hypothesis concerning THT: Birthing consciousness is one example of an adaptive pain-induced ASC associated with transient hypofrontality.

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The case of poor postpartum mental health: a consequence of an evolutionary mismatch – not of an evolutionary trade-off

Dahan¹

2023

Biol Philos

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Verbal and visuospatial working memory during pregnancy: EEG correlation between the prefrontal and parietal cortices

Cited by 11 publications

References 55 publications

Heart rate variability in late pregnancy: exploration of distinctive patterns in relation to maternal mental health

Heart rate variability in late pregnancy: exploration of distinctive patterns in relation to maternal mental health

Birthing Consciousness as a Case of Adaptive Altered State of Consciousness Associated With Transient Hypofrontality

The case of poor postpartum mental health: a consequence of an evolutionary mismatch – not of an evolutionary trade-off

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