Fig. 4: Changes in white matter organization across a first and second pregnancy.
From: The effects of a second pregnancy on women’s brain structure and function
We investigated the white matter organization of eleven large white matter tracts in the brain (a). Extracted fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD; in 10−5 mm2/s) in white matter tracts that showed significant changes from pre-pregnancy (PRE) to the early postpartum period (POST) across first (PRG1; n = 40) and/or second (PRG2; n = 30) pregnancies and control women (CTR; n = 40) (b). *p < 0.05 for two-sided paired t-tests after FDR correction for multiple testing, #p < 0.1 for two-sided paired t-tests after FDR correction for multiple testing. The CTR-PRG1 comparison in the left SLFT revealed p = 0.03, the CTR-PRG2 comparison in the right CST p = 0.03 and the PRG1-PRG2 comparison in the right CST p = 0.03, all after FDR correction. Thal thalamic radiation, CST Corticospinal Tract, IFOF Inferior Fronto-Occipital Fasciculus, Cing Cingulum bundle, Cing Hipp Cingulum bundle (Hippocampal part), SLF Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus, SLFT Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus (Temporal part), ILF Inferior longitudinal fasciculus, Unc Uncinate Fasciculus. Boxplots show the median and interquartile range (IQR); whiskers extend to 1.5x IQR. Individual points (jittered) are overlaid for visualization and include all values. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
