Descripción del proyecto
Adaptaciones encefálicas y hormonales para la maternidad
Durante el embarazo, el encéfalo experimenta adaptaciones importantes que preparan a las mujeres para los desafíos de la maternidad. En concreto, estudios previos han revelado que la red cerebral de cognición social de las embarazadas sufre modificaciones sistemáticas, que persisten durante al menos dos años después del parto, lo que contribuye a la manera en la que las madres se relacionan con sus bebés. El proyecto BEMOTHER, financiado con fondos europeos, desarrollará un modelo de adaptaciones que se producen en las mujeres durante el período del embarazo y posparto. El proyecto tiene previsto determinar cuándo y cómo se reorganiza el encéfalo durante el embarazo, los cambios neuropsicológicos durante este período, así como identificar los mediadores hormonales que podrían participar en esta reorganización encefálica. El fin último del proyecto es integrar los hallazgos neuronales, neuropsicológicos y metabolómicos en un modelo del desarrollo de la conducta materna.
Objetivo
Pregnancy involves biological adaptations that are necessary for the onset, maintenance and regulation of maternal behavior. We were the first group to find (1, 2) that pregnancy is associated with consistent, pronounced and long-lasting reductions in cerebral gray matter (GM) volume in areas of the social-cognition network. The aim of BEMOTHER is to develop an integrative model of the adaptations for motherhood that occur during pregnancy and the postpartum period by: i) establishing when the brain of pregnant women begins to change and how it evolves; ii) characterizing the dynamics of cognitive performance, theory-of-mind, maternal-infant bonding and psychiatric measures; iii) assessing the effect of environmental and/or psychological factors in the maternal adaptations, iv) identifying the metabolomics biomarkers associated with maternal adaptations, and v) integrating the previous findings within the Research Domain Criteria framework (RDoC) (3). We will use a prospective longitudinal design at 5 time points (1 pre-pregnancy session, 2 intra-pregnancy sessions and 2 postpartum sessions) during which neuroimaging, psychological, behavioral and metabolomics data will be acquired in 3 groups of women: a group of nulliparous women who will be undergoing a full-term pregnancy, another group of nulliparous women whose same-sex partners will undergo a full-term pregnancy, and a group of control nulliparous women. We will provide the longitudinal RDoC-based model at the end of the study, but we will also deliver intermediate longitudinal evaluations after the postpartum session, as well as cross-sectional analyses after the first intra-pregnancy session and the postpartum session. BEMOTHER is timely and innovative. It adopts the translational RDoC framework in order to provide a pioneering, comprehensive and dynamic characterization of the adaptations for motherhood, addressing the interaction among different functional domains at different levels of analysis.
Ámbito científico
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
ERC-ADG - Advanced GrantInstitución de acogida
08193 Cerdanyola Del Valles
España