Structural and Functional Plasticity in the Maternal Brain Circuitry

Pereira, Mariana

doi:10.1002/cad.20163

Cited by 23 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 180 publications

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“…Great neural plasticity has led to the evolution of viviparity (internal gestation) and to physiological reorganization in mother and young that enabled the maturation of the fetus within the maternal body 130 . Immense neural plasticity is also required to make that newborn the most salient object to its mother to the exclusion of all other focus 131 .…”

Section: The Three Tenets Of Resiliencementioning

confidence: 99%

What is resilience: an affiliative neuroscience approach

2020

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Resilience – a key topic in clinical science and practice – still lacks a clear conceptualization that integrates its evolutionary and human‐specific features, refrains from exclusive focus on fear physiology, incorporates a developmental approach, and, most importantly, is not based on the negation (i.e., absence of symptoms following trauma). Building on the initial condition of mammals, whose brain matures in the context of the mother's body and caregiving behavior, we argue that systems and processes that participate in tuning the brain to the social ecology and adapting to its hardships mark the construct of resilience. These include the oxytocin system, the affiliative brain, and biobehavioral synchrony, all characterized by great flexibility across phylogenesis and ontogenesis. Three core features of resilience are outlined: plasticity, sociality and meaning. Mechanisms of sociality by which coordinated action supports diversity, endurance and adaptation are described across animal evolution. Humans' biobehavioral synchrony matures from maternal attuned behavior in the postpartum to adult‐adult relationships of empathy, perspective‐taking and intimacy, and extends from the mother‐child relationship to other affiliative bonds throughout life, charting a fundamental trajectory in the development of resilience. Findings from three high‐risk cohorts, each tapping a distinct disruption to maternal‐infant bonding (prematurity, maternal depression, and early life stress/trauma), and followed from birth to adolescence/young adulthood, demonstrate how components of the neurobiology of affiliation confer resilience and uniquely shape the social brain.

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Section: The Three Tenets Of Resiliencementioning

confidence: 99%

What is resilience: an affiliative neuroscience approach

2020

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“…In laboratory rodent models, a repeated exposure to stressors, separation from pups, and the administration of hormones like glucocorticoids can produce PPD- and PPA-like behaviors. Furthermore, these models show brain alterations in neurogenesis and cellular morphology (e.g., reduced spine density, dendritic length, and branching) within key structures of the maternal circuitry such as nucleus accumbens, prefrontal cortex, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, midbrain periaqueductal gray and hippocampus (Pawluski et al 2017 ; Pereira 2016 ).…”

Section: Peripartum Mental Disordersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain plasticity in pregnancy and the postpartum period: links to maternal caregiving and mental health

Barba-Müller

Craddock

Carmona

et al. 2018

Arch Womens Ment Health

151

100

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Pregnancy and the postpartum period involve numerous physiological adaptations that enable the development and survival of the offspring. A distinct neural plasticity characterizes the female brain during this period, and dynamic structural and functional changes take place that accompany fundamental behavioral adaptations, stimulating the female to progress from an individual with self-directed needs to being responsible for the care of another life. While many animal studies detail these modifications, an emerging body of research reveals the existence of reproduction-related brain plasticity in human mothers too. Additionally, associations with aspects of maternal caregiving point to adaptive changes that benefit a woman's transition to motherhood. However, the dynamic changes that affect a woman's brain are not merely adaptive, and they likely confer a vulnerability for the development of mental disorders. Here, we review the changes in brain structure and function that a woman undergoes during the peripartum period, outlining associations between these neural alterations and different aspects of maternal care. We additionally discuss peripartum mood disorders and postpartum psychosis, and review the neuroimaging studies that investigate the neural bases of these conditions.

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“…Evidence from non‐human animal studies suggests that there are increases in functional plasticity during the postpartum period . During pregnancy, functional plasticity is mediated predominantly by hormonal changes, however; during the postpartum period, the functional plasticity is primarily driven by the social experience of interacting with the infant . This functional plasticity supports the ability of the mother to link sensory cues to the underlying needs of the infant and respond in a prompt and appropriate manner .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Maternal brain resting‐state connectivity in the postpartum period

Dufford

Erhart

Kim

2019

J Neuroendocrinology

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In the postpartum period, the maternal brain experiences both structural and functional plasticity. Although we have a growing understanding of the responses of the human maternal brain to infant stimuli, little is known about the intrinsic connectivity among those regions during the postpartum months. Resting‐state functional connectivity (rsFC) provides a measure of the functional architecture of the brain based upon intrinsic functional connectivity (ie, the temporal correlation in blood oxygenation level dependent signal when the brain is not engaged in a specific task). In the present study, we used resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine how later postpartum months are associated with rsFC and maternal behaviours. We recruited a sample of 47 socioeconomically diverse first‐time mothers with singleton pregnancies. Because the amygdala has been shown to play a critical role in maternal behaviours in the postpartum period, this was chosen as the seed for a seed‐based correlation analysis. For the left amygdala, later postpartum months were associated with greater connectivity with the anterior cingulate gyrus, left nucleus accumbens, right caudate and left cerebellum (P < 0.05, false discovery rate corrected). Furthermore, in an exploratory analysis, we observed indications that rsFC between the left amygdala and left nucleus accumbens was positively associated with maternal structuring during a mother child‐interaction. In addition, later postpartum months were associated with greater connectivity between the right amygdala and the bilateral caudate and right putamen. Overall, we provide evidence of relationships between postpartum months and rsFC in the regions involved in salience detection and regions involved in maternal motivation. Greater connectivity between the amygdala and nucleus accumbens may play a role in positive maternal behaviours.

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Structural and Functional Plasticity in the Maternal Brain Circuitry

Cited by 23 publications

References 180 publications

What is resilience: an affiliative neuroscience approach

What is resilience: an affiliative neuroscience approach

Brain plasticity in pregnancy and the postpartum period: links to maternal caregiving and mental health

Maternal brain resting‐state connectivity in the postpartum period

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