Featured Books

Four Mothers

by Abigail Leonard

In Four Mothers, journalist Abigail Leonard weaves together the intimate stories of women navigating the profound changes that come with motherhood. The book includes the concept of matrescence as a framework for understanding the universal and unique aspects of how societies shape maternal experience.

Mother Brain

by Chelsea Conaboy

In Mother Brain, health and science journalist Chelsea Conaboy explores the neurobiological adaptations of motherhood, showing how pregnancy and parenthood reshape the brain with remarkable plasticity. By drawing on the concept of matrescence, Conaboy frames these brain changes as part of a larger developmental transition and neurobiological evolution “pruning and tuning” for the better.

Baby Brain

By Sarah McKay

Neuroscientist Sarah McKay dismantles myths about “baby brain” as decline. Instead, she reveals how the maternal brain undergoes profound neurobiological adaptation—structural and functional reorganization that enhance social cognition, emotional attunement, and caregiving. Matrescence provides the developmental lens for this science, helping us see these changes as part of a larger human passage—plastic, adaptive, and even prosocial.