• The Mommy Brain

  • How Motherhood Makes Us Smarter
  • By: Katherine Ellison
  • Narrated by: Jane Jacobs
  • Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (9 ratings)

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The Mommy Brain

By: Katherine Ellison
Narrated by: Jane Jacobs
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Publisher's Summary

In The Mommy Brain, Katherine Ellison reveals the ways that women get smarter after having kids. Motherhood makes women more perceptive, efficient, resilient, motivated, and emotionally intelligent - all of which adds up to tremendous mental enrichment and effectiveness.

©2006 Katherine Ellison (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

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Take That! Misogynists

I’ll admit, I’ve resorted to the excuse “mommy brain” on more than one occasion.

But Pulitzer Prize winner Katherine Ellison asks, “What if raising children is mentally enriching for mothers and fathers?”

With copious research, top scientist interviews, and parents' hardcore stories, Ellison lays out a case that our brains go through an elastic growth period as we bear and rear children.

“Aging makes us cling ever more fiercely to our mental ruts. But for most of us, our unique bond with our children yanks us out of them.”

Ellison argues that the fatigue and forgetfulness associated with parenting derive from overwork and sleeplessness, and should be addressed by society—with more generous childcare benefits, for instance. We want and need to take advantage of our new brain enhancement!

A lot of parents feel like they’re losing their marbles! They're not crazy, and they are actually accessing new intelligence. "Mommy Brain" articulates that insight.

3 people found this helpful

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Disorganized but has potential

There are some useful nuggets in this book and portions that are thought-provoking. However, the entire book is disorganized and at times rambles on about unrelated topics like when the author goes into a brief history of women in US politics and at a couple points rants about McDonalds. I think this is a fascinating topic yet I was hoping to learn more about the science and research underlying current views on mommy brains.

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Great book, decent performance

It took me a while to get into the book because of the narrator's monotoneish voice but I'm glad I gave this book a chance. Super informative.