Problems in pregnancy: What happens to the memory during pregnancy and how can you improve yours?
Memory Loss in Pregnancy: Fact or Fiction?
Pregnancy can be a time of joy and expectancy for a woman, but few women will experience a pregnancy completely devoid of negative side effects. While most symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, weight gain, and increased fatigue can be attributed to measurable increases in hormone levels, other symptoms, such as short-term memory loss, are less quantifiable, and therefore, perhaps less palpable. In fact, recent data suggests that the memory loss experienced by pregnant and postpartum women is both real and measurable, despite an apparent lack of association with either anxiety or hormone levels.
The Basics of Memory
Memory is the key to thinking and learning, and serves as the information database of the brain. Psychologists classify memory into the four "R's" - recollection, recall, recognition, and relearning. While recall is the unaided remembrance of past events, recollection involves remembering through the use of hints or clues. Recognition involves the correct identification of previously encountered information. Relearning is the ability to assimilate new information based upon previously learned information.
Exactly how and where in the brain information is stored is still a mystery. Some scientists have found that stimulating specific areas of the brain brings certain memories to mind, leading to the belief that memories are stored in specific loci of the brain, while others believe the process is much more complicated, involving areas of the brain working together to conjure a memory. Another theory suggests that long and short-term memories are stored differently, and that failure to transfer information from short- to long-term memory results in its irretrievable loss. Still others believe that different types of memories, such as skills or those with emotional connotations are distributed among different areas of the brain. Whatever the mechanism, scientists agree that without memory, learning is impossible.
Why We Forget
After we encounter information, we quickly will forget a certain amount, then progress to a less rapid rate of decline. In the past, scientists have offered several possible explanations for this phenomenon. One theory without much proof to date holds that memories deteriorate in conjunction with associated neuronal organic processes. Other ideas postulated include the belief that memories become distorted over time, or that new information displaces old, or even that forgetting may be a defense mechanism of the brain to consciously or unconsciously repress information which is too painful or upsetting to handle.
What is Short-term Memory Loss?
If you are pregnant and approaching your third trimester, you may find yourself increasingly misplacing items such as keys or eyeglasses, forgetting appointments, or suddenly losing your train of thought in the midst of performing a task. Rest assured, this probably does not signal the onset of early Alzheimer's disease, but may be a temporary condition known as short-term memory loss. Short-term memory, or working memory, as it is also known, is the process by which we store most of the daily, generally transitory information we need to get through our daily routines. This kind of information will most likely never make it's way into our long-term memory, the process we reserve the more permanent information we encounter. For instance, as you make your breakfast, you may make mental note of the fact that you are almost out of eggs. This information would be stored in the short-term, rather than long-term memory. Long-term memory is reserved for more general information
Memory Decline Greatest in Third Trimester
Approximately half of all pregnant women report increases in forgetfulness during the latter part of pregnancy and in the postpartum period.
In a 1998 study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Keenan and associates monitored the memory and anxiety or depression level of a group of women throughout pregnancy and in the postpartum period. A similar group of nonpregnant women were likewise monitored for comparison. While the length of material influenced the amount recalled for both groups, pregnant women in the third trimester showed a significant decline in memory. No such decline was noted for nonpregnant women. While pregnant women reported greater sleep disturbance, increased levels of depression and anxiety, this study found no link between these symptoms and decline in memory.
Brain Overload and Memory Dysfunction
A 2-part study was conducted by Janes and associates reported in the American Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics found that while test and control groups did not differ on self-reported mood and anxiety levels, pregnant and postpartum women performed worse on tests of working memory. Although this study found that increases in sleep disruption reported by women in their third trimester corresponded more to self-reported memory levels than to actual performance on memory tests. The results suggest that the working memory of pregnant women may be affected by a higher than normal volume of information as their minds attempt to adapt to the anticipated life changes and increased responsibility of caring for an infant.
Relationship to Sleep Deprivation, Mood, and Hormone Levels
A 1999 study conducted by J. G. Buckwalter and associates examined the possible relationships between hormone levels and anxiety, memory, and mood in pregnant women, as reported in the journal, Psychoneuorendrocrinology. The mood, memory, and anxiety levels of pregnant and postpartum women, as well as non-pregnant women were evaluated at given intervals using both self-reporting surveys and a battery of detailed neuropsychological evaluations. At the same time, blood samples were drawn from the participants and levels of various steroid hormones were measured. Compared with performance after delivery, women performed more poorly on verbal memory tests during pregnancy, which were not associated mood levels. While levels of certain hormones affected both mood and anxiety levels both during pregnancy and in the postpartum period, no such association was found between any steroid hormone levels and effects on learning or memory.
Ways to Improve Memory - Both Now and Post-Pregnancy
Most women consider short-term memory loss one of the less unpleasant, if inconvenient and frustrating, symptoms of late pregnancy. Fortunately, symptoms will usually abate or disappear sometime after delivery and within the following year. In the meantime, women have found some relief through use of several techniques, which have been shown to successfully improve memory:
· Actively recall information while learning.
For example, you meet an important man named Cliff Brown, whose name you must remember for business purposes. Say the name aloud as you are shaking hands, as in, "Pleased to meet you, MR. BROWN." After the man leaves, you repeat the name several times to yourself, either aloud or in your head.
· Periodically review learned information.
Referring to the example above, review the events of the day before retiring, once again bringing to mind the name of the individual, and again repeating the information to oneself several times. Think of this as reviewing notes before a test.
· Overkill
Learn the material nearly to the point of expertise. Anyone who has successfully studied for a test knows that true learning goes beyond rote memorization. Understanding a concept will go a long way towards triggering the memory for the entire material.
· Mnemonics
Try using the mental technique known as mnemonics, which uses word associations and the like to draw forth the desired memory. One of the most common examples is the acronym, as in NAFTA for the North American Free Trade Agreement. Another twist on this method involves the use of a mental image. For example, you might note that Mr. Brown has both brown eyes and brown hair at the time you meet. In this case, you might add "Mr. Brown Hair" to your repetitions to help brand his name on your psyche.
Improving your memory will have a positive effect on your mental health and well being, and may help to ease some of the worry of late pregnancy. But, as with any skill, active remembering requires consistency and effort, so don't expect a huge improvement overnight. With practice and a little mental elbow grease, you may find yourself at the end of your pregnancy with sharper mental acuity than even your pre-pregnancy days.
