The Mommy Brain: How Motherhood Makes Us Smarter - Hardcover

Ellison, Katherine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0465019056 ISBN 13: 9780465019052

Publisher: Basic Books, 2005

Synopsis

A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist implodes the myth of the dumbed-down mum, offering startling scientific evidence that motherhood gives women unexpected mental advantages. Generations of mothers have been told - and believed - that having a baby means checking-in their own brains at the delivery room door. "The Mummy Brain" usually refers to a head full of feeding times and nursery rhymes, at the expense of creative or challenging ideas. But recent scientific research paints a dramatically different and far rosier picture. Journalist Katherine Ellison draws on cutting-edge neuroscience research to demonstrate that, contrary to long-established wisdom, that having children dumbs-you-down, raising children may actually make mums smarter. From enhanced senses in pregnancy and early motherhood to the alertness and memory skills necessary to manage like a pro, to a greater aptitude for risk-taking and a talent for empathy and negotiation, these advantages not only help mothers in raising their children, but in their work and social lives as well. Filled with lively (and often hilarious) stories of multi-tasking mums at home and at work, "The Mommy Brain" encourages all of us to cast aside conventional thinking and discover the positive ways in which having children changes mothers' brains for the better.

About this title

Review:

"It's a revolution for the brain when you have a child... an epoch of learning and brain-induced changes, because everything matters so much. I don't think there are a lot of better things you can do for your brain than have a child."

About the Author:

About the author: Katherine Ellison is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter, veteran foreign correspondent and author of two books - Imelda: Steel Butterfly of the Philippines and The New Economy of Nature: The Quest to Make Conservation Possible. A working mother with two young boys, she has written on this topic for Salon and Working Mother magazines. She lives in California.

About this edition

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0465019056
• ISBN 13: 9780465019052
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320