Giving birth to a better brain: Do babies sharpen parents' minds?

By Erica Noonan

Globe Staff / October 31, 2005

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Women with small children have long been saddled with an unflattering stereotype -- incompetent, dull-witted, frazzled, and preoccupied with domestic affairs. The derogatory cliches vary, from ''maternal amnesia" in medical circles, to the colloquial ''placenta brain" in the United States and ''porridge brain" in Great Britain. But a new body of research -- so far still mostly in animals -- ... (Full article: 1017 words)