A University of Miami study has found that women who are moms score better than women who have never been pregnant in varied memory tests. The findings challenge the old "baby brain" belief–you know, that women who have just had a baby or are pregnant are more forgetful, clumsy, or just overall less alert.
To this, I say: Great, there goes my excuse when trying to defend my forgetfulness with my husband!
Read more ¿Qué más?: Three lessons learned from leaving my baby at school
One of the researchers, doctoral student Melissa Santiago, told Msnbc.com: "You don't have to feel that because you have kids, your memory isn't the same." While the study was conducted on a small group of 35 women, most of whom were Latinas, the results were pretty persuasive. Women were shown paper with different pictures, then asked to draw what they remembered. This was done several times, and the researchers saw that the moms, time after time, performed better at remembering these pictures than the women who were not moms.
This lead the researchers to believe that moms actually have a better grasp of memory–a result, they speculate, of mothers having to be able to scan their environment and remember any hazards that may pose a threat to their kids.
Want to find other moms como tú? Like us on Facebook!
The results seem convincing enough, but I honestly don't buy it. Every day I experience my decreased mental ability first hand. I forget EVERYTHING: keys, food for my dogs, and a few times–TMI alert!–to brush my teeth. During my maternity leave, if my mom didn't call to remind me to eat, I would have probably gone to bed without having dinner. Now that I'm back to work, I have a notebook to write down even the smallest of tasks (like a reminder that I brought lunch to work and that it's in the fridge) so I don't forget. So, nice try researchers, but no. I experience Baby Brain every day of my new life now. But just in case you're right and to prevent any weirdness at home, I think I just may hide this article from my husband indefinitely!
Do you suffer from mom brain? What do you think of this study? Tell us in the comments below!
Image via Thinkstock
