Ask a new mom when was the last time her baby ate, and how many ounces, and she'll tell you without a moment's hesitation. The same goes for the last time her baby slept, cried, burped or smiled.
Ask her when was the last time she did any of those things herself, and she'll have no idea.
Plenty of women laugh it off and call it "mom brain." And it is, experts say. But it's also much more than that.
When women become mothers, their brains change, going through the same pruning process as their brains did during puberty, said Ashton Scherrer, a psychologist in Indiana. It's called "matrescence" (think: the adult version of adolescence), and while it can feel isolating and scary for some women, it's completely normal − and some even believe it's a superpower of sorts.
"Matrescence is literally the process of becoming a mother. It is the physical, psychological, emotional and social transformation a woman goes through when they become a mom," said Michelle Battersby, president of Peanut, a social networking app for moms. "And it is also the most profound neurological change an adult human brain will ever go through."
