Changes in neural representations and body perception during pregnancy
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Maternal Brain Gain: Changes in neural representations and body perception during pregnancy
IRAS ID
170752
Contact name
Jane Aspell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Anglia Ruskin University
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
As a human body grows and interacts with the external world, the maps of the body in the brain must be updated, to accurately represent the body’s changing dimensions. Whereas changes in the body are usually small and slow, occurring as a person grows and develops, a striking exception is found in pregnancy, when massive and rapid changes occur in the body, both inside and out. Up until now the impact of pregnancy on the organization of the ‘body maps’ in the brain has not been investigated. This project aims at investigating the specific changes that might occur in the maternal brain’s processing of signals from both the inside and the outside of the pregnant woman’s body. The two-year project will investigate: (i) the maternal brain processing of internal signals arising from the growing foetus (Experiments 1 and 2) and (ii) how the maternal brain’s body maps update as a result of changes in the pregnant mother’s body size and shape (Experiments 3 and 4). We will combine behavioural measures with measures of brain activation (acquired, harmlessly, using electroencephalography - EEG). We expect to show, in Experiments 1 and 2, that the maternal brain receives signals from the foetal heartbeat. In Experiment 3 (an EEG study), we expect to find an expansion of the brain’s body maps of the mother’s abdomen, as the abdomen gradually increases in size. Finally, we also expect to find (in Experiment 4) that the brain’s map of the space surrounding the body will expand during the pregnancy, in order to facilitate the mother’s interaction with the external world, ensuring she doesn’t bump her vulnerable, enlarged abdomen into objects. Pregnant woman (ranging from a gestational age of 14 weeks to 8 weeks post-delivery) will be tested in laboratories at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.
REC name
East of England - Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/EE/0294
Date of REC Opinion
9 Oct 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion