Scientists Discover Children’s Cells Living in Mothers’ Brains

By Juliana Jiménez Jaramillo

The connection between mother and child is physical and psychological, and may be even deeper than previously thought. According to Scientific American, “cells may migrate through the placenta between the mother and the fetus, taking up residence in many organs of the body including the lung, thyroid muscle, liver, heart, kidney and skin” — and apparently, the brain. The article is excellent, though this part is confusing:

“They examined the brains of deceased women for the presence of cells containing the male “Y” chromosome. They found such cells in more than 60 percent of the brains and in multiple brain regions. Since Alzheimer’s disease is more common in women who have had multiple pregnancies, they suspected that the number of fetal cells would be greater in women with AD compared to those who had no evidence for neurological disease. The results were precisely the opposite: there were fewer fetal-derived cells…