Pregnancy and the Human Brain: A Window of Neuroplasticity

Project Information

PREGBRAIN

Grant agreement ID: 948031

DOI

10.3030/948031

EC signature date 15 April 2021

Start date 1 October 2021

End date 30 September 2026

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 1 500 000,00

EU contribution

€ 1 500 000,00

Coordinated by

STICHTING AMSTERDAM UMC
Netherlands

CORDIS provides links to public deliverables and publications of HORIZON projects.

Links to deliverables and publications from FP7 projects, as well as links to some specific result types such as dataset and software, are dynamically retrieved from OpenAIRE .

Publications

Peer reviewed articles (8)

The effects of a second pregnancy on women’s brain structure and function

Author(s): M. Straathof, S. Halmans, P. J. W. Pouwels, E. A. Crone, E. Hoekzema
Published in: Nature Communications, Issue 17, 2026, ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-69370-8

Pregnancy renders anatomical changes in hypothalamic substructures of the human brain that relate to aspects of maternal behavior

Author(s): Klara Spalek, Milou Straathof, Lal Koyuncu, Håkon Grydeland, Anouk van der Geest, Sophie R. van‘t Hof, Eveline A. Crone, Erika Barba-Müller, Susana Carmona, Damiaan Denys, Christian K. Tamnes, Sarah Burke, Elseline Hoekzema
Published in: Psychoneuroendocrinology, Issue 164, 2024, Page(s) 107021, ISSN 0306-4530
Publisher: Pergamon Press
DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2024.107021

Pregnancy changes the variability of brain signaling

Author(s): Sara Halmans, Milou Straathof, Damiaan Denys, Eveline Crone, Kristoffer NT Månsson, Elseline Hoekzema
Published in: NeuroImage, Issue 333, 2026, Page(s) 121923, ISSN 1053-8119
Publisher: Academic Press
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121923

Neural variability across the transition to motherhood: Enhanced moment‐to‐moment neural variability during mentalizing in first‐time mothers

Author(s): Sara Halmans, Milou Straathof, Sophie van ’t Hof, Damiaan Denys, Eveline A. Crone, Kristoffer N. T. Månsson, Elseline Hoekzema
Published in: Journal of Neuroendocrinology, Issue 38, 2026, ISSN 0953-8194
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing Inc.
DOI: 10.1111/jne.70191

Mapping the effects of pregnancy on resting state brain activity, white matter microstructure, neural metabolite concentrations and grey matter architecture

Author(s): Elseline Hoekzema, Henk van Steenbergen, Milou Straathof, Arlette Beekmans, Inga Marie Freund, Petra J W Pouwels, Eveline A Crone
Published in: Nature Communications, Issue 13(1), 2022, ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33884-8

Dynamic brain plasticity during the transition to motherhood

Author(s): Sara Halmans, Milou Straathof, Elseline A. Hoekzema
Published in: Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Issue 29, 2025, Page(s) 10-11, ISSN 1364-6613
Publisher: Elsevier BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2024.10.011

Less can be more: Fine tuning the maternal brain

Author(s): Jodi L Pawluski, Elseline Hoekzema, Benedetta Leuner, Joseph S Lonstein
Published in: Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, Issue 133, 2022, ISSN 0149-7634
Publisher: Pergamon Press Ltd.
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.11.045

Theory of Mind during Pregnancy and Postpartum: A Systematic Review

Author(s): Sophie R. van 't Hof, Milou Straathof, Klara Spalek, Elseline Hoekzema
Published in: Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 2023, ISSN 0953-8194
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing Inc.
DOI: 10.1111/jne.13266