So Are We Getting Smarter Or Stupider After Having Children?

I found two interesting articles concerning pregnancy and having children. I quote the articles here and let you decide which one you want to believe

First, a five-year study run by Indiana University’s Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction proves what many in the scientific community have always suspected: having children significantly lowers the IQ of both male and female parents.

Dr. Hosung Lee, director of the study, was not surprised with the findings. “The research proved that our hypothesis was correct. Having children does retard one’s brain activity, and since both parents lost intelligence, we must assume that this loss has a psychological rather than biological cause.”

The IQ tests show that when a child is born, the part of the brain that makes one think objectively takes the biggest hit when it comes to losing brainpower. “This explains why every parent thinks their child is the smartest kid in class or the best athlete, even if that child is as dumb as a box of rocks or needs a calendar to time their forty-yard dash. People who before were intelligent and open-minded turn into raving lunatics who want to blame a teacher or coach every time their mediocre child fails,” said Lee.

Lee says the Kinsey Institute will continue to test the couples participating in the study to determine if the loss of intelligence is reversible once children grow up and leave the nest and if parents who continue having children lose even more intelligence.

Second, a recent study performed at the University of Richmond and Randolph-Macon College in Virginia illustrates that pregnancy brainpower actually doesn’t decline at all during pregnancy.

Neuroscientists examined the activities of pregnant mice, rats, and humans and found that all three showed significant increases in mental acuity and memory throughout pregnancy and after giving birth. Human subjects in the study showed increased brainpower. Specifically, the pregnant women showed:

* increased visual acuity
* improved sense of smell

Is this Improved Memory Permanent?
One of the most significant findings of this and other pregnancy and memory studies is that the added brainpower caused by pregnancy appears to be permanent. Increased memory retention and improved cognition appear to continue throughout motherhood; in fact, parenting only seems to contribute to a woman’s brain power, allowing her to become:

* increasingly motivated
* less fearful
* more empathetic
* better able to multitask and prioritize

What About Men?
Women aren’t the only ones who appear to benefit mentally from pregnancy and parenthood. Men also appear to show increased mental performance, however, this occurs on a much lower scale than it does in women. In particular, men seem to show an increased ability to empathize with others. This is believed to be the result of an increase in estrogen and prolactin that occurs in men just prior to labor and delivery.

While the first finding already been discussed at my office since years ago, nobody ever mention about the second one. This issue was brought to the surface again lately as the company tried to change the company’s policy regarding female employees. The proposed policy will limit the number of employees allowed to be pregnant each year!

I was so upset when I heard this. I was even more upset when I heard that the policy was proposed by our HR manager whom is a woman, a 45 years old divorcee with no kids. I feel like wanting to slap her face whenever I meet her.

Anyway, which study do you want to believe?