Divorced Mothers Brain Connectivity: A Preliminary Study

Background: Motherhood introduces extreme physiological, hormonal, and psychological changes that affect brain function. However, the impact on brain connectivity in divorced mothers, who experience unique stressors, is never investigated. Resting-state fMRI provides insights into how these challenges influence neural organization. Objective: The current study seeks to investigate changes in resting-state brain connectivity in divorced mothers and related to psychological factors. Methods: A total of 30 healthy right-handed, 15 divorced and 15 married, mothers were recruited and scanned on a 3T, with T1-WI and resting state fMRI. Seed-based connectivity analysis was selected to explore connectivity differences in pre-selected networks incorporating additional psychological assessments. Results: Preliminary MRI results at p -unc < 0.05 showed a trend in divorced mothers towards decreased connectivity between the right (rt) frontal eye field (FEF) within Dorsal Attention Network (DAN) and right posterior para-hippocampal region. While increased connectivity was between specific brain regions, a) right DAN-intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and left Default Mode Network (DMN)-lateral parietal (LP), b) left DAN-IPS and right DMN-LP, c) left DAN-IPS and left DMN-LP. The observed increase in connectivity between contralateral DMN and DAN subregions is noteworthy. Psychological assessments revealed no significant differences in cognitive performance or levels of depression, stress, or anxiety. However, divorced mothers reported higher personal growth scores. Conclusion: Divorced mothers may exhibit neural adaptations linked to the demands of their caregiving roles, which could potentially reflect aspects of resilience. Although these findings should be interpreted cautiously, with MRI and other complementary approaches, findings could guide the development of targeted interventions aimed at empowerment, resilience, and overall well-being.