Investigated variations in a women's cognitive function during a time of pregnancy and childbearing.

Abstract

We investigated variations in a women's cognitive function during a time of pregnancy and childbearing. Volunteers were composed of 114 healthy women ranging in age from 23-43 years. Further, 79 were pregnant and 35 were not pregnant. We instructed the pregnant women to carry out five kinds of tests: simple reaction, SR; choice reaction, CR; working memory, WM; one card learning, OC; and divided attention, DA using card games through a cognitive function test called CogHealth, and compared them to a nonpregnant group. In the results of the four measurement tasks (SR, CR, WM, and DA), there were no significant differences across the three groups in the responses with the tasks. However, the response times relating to the OC learning in the postnatal women were significantly smaller, as contrasted with the times for the pregnant and the nonpregnant women (F(2,144)=4.248).