Project description
Preparing for motherhood: pregnancy shapes information processing in the brain
A pregnant woman’s brain undergoes dramatic remodelling caused by hormones, which are thought to orchestrate the behavioural and physiological adaptations necessary for infant care. Despite the scale of these effects, there is a lack of knowledge about the neural mechanisms by which pregnancy affects the brain. The EU-funded PregnantBrain project will employ a multidisciplinary approach to uncover the molecular, cellular and circuit-level mechanisms of pregnancy hormone action in a mouse model. The research will focus on aspects of parenting, feeding and aggression affected by pregnancy to reveal mechanisms of the neural adaptations during the gestation period. The study will provide novel and generalisable insights into how physiological states shape information processing in the brain.
Objective
An expectant mother’s brain undergoes dramatic structural remodeling during pregnancy. These changes are thought to be elicited by hormones, orchestrating the behavioural and physiological adaptations necessary for infant care. Despite the scale of these effects, we know little about the neural mechanisms by which pregnancy affects the brain. Recent methodological advances now offer the exciting opportunity to address these questions. This project will use a multidisciplinary approach to uncover the molecular, cellular and circuit-level mechanisms of pregnancy hormone action in a mouse model.
We will first focus on which aspects of parenting, feeding and aggression are affected by pregnancy – and over which time course these behavioural adaptations occur. This will provide important clues about the nature of underlying neural plasticity mechanisms. Next, we will determine which nodes of the circuits controlling these behaviours are sensitive to pregnancy hormones. This will then allow us to address the functional consequences of pregnancy at the network level, using in vivo calcium imaging approaches. Finally, we will study the biophysical and cellular mechanisms underlying pregnancy hormone action in genetically defined neurons, through a combination of electrophysiology and transcriptomic profiling.
By integrating these complementary lines of evidence, we aim to obtain a mechanistic understanding of the neural adaptations occurring during pregnancy. I believe that these innovative studies will generate novel and highly generalizable insights into how physiological states shape information processing in the brain.
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Funding Scheme
ERC-STG - Starting GrantHost institution
NW1 1AT London
United Kingdom