Mothers have better memory recall: study

A woman's memory becomes sharper once she enters motherhood, researchers have claimed. American researchers have found that the ability to perceive and recall information is higher among women with children, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

"You don't have to feel that because you have kids, your memory isn't the same," researcher Melissa Santiago from Carlos Albizu University in Miami was quoted as saying by the paper.

In a series of experiments, new mothers scored better on tests of visuospatial memory - the ability to perceive and remember information about their surroundings - compared with women who didn't have children.

The findings counter the belief that women experience a decline in memory and cognitive function after they have children.

Santiago analysed information from 35 first-time mothers whose children were aged 10 to 24 months, and 35 women who had never been pregnant.

To test visuospatial memory, the women were shown a paper containing six symbols for 10 seconds, and then asked to draw what they remembered. This task was repeated several times.

The first time women were shown the paper, both groups remembered about the same amount.

But on the second and third occasions, mothers performed better than those without children, indicating that the mothers recalled more information each time than the other women.

Some earlier researches showed that pregnancy many lead to physiological changes in the body, and suggested the brain even shrinks up to 5%.

But it returns to its normal size six months after childbirth, and during this time of re-growth, the brain may re-map itself in a way that is responsible for the memory changes seen in the study, Santiago said.