Mommy Brain Revisited

In this episode of Mommy Brain Revisited I talk with Dr. Elseline Hoekzema, Assistant Professor, Adult Psychiatry and Amsterdam Neuroscience at Amsterdam University Medical Centers. We talk about her recent research published Nature Communications on how pregnancy impacts brain structure and function. This is a fascinating area of research! Download the publication here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-33884-8 For more information about Dr. Hoekzema see:  https://www.amsterdamumc.org/en/research/researchers/elseline-a.-hoekzema.htm Citation: Hoekzema, E., van Steenbergen, H., Straathof, M. et al. Mapping the effects of pregnancy on resting state brain activity, white matter microstructure, neural metabolite concentrations and grey matter architecture. Nat Commun 13, 6931 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33884-8 For more about Dr. Jodi Pawluski see: www.jodipawluski.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mommybrainrevisited/support

In this episode of Mommy Brain Revisited I read our viewpoint in JAMA Neurology titled "It's time to rebrand 'Mommy Brain'" published Feb 6, 2023 and authored by Dr Clare McCormack, Dr Bridget Callaghan and myself.  We also talk about how we are rebranding 'Mommy Brain'.  For the print version of the viewpoint see:  https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/article-abstract/2801288 Citation: McCormack C, Callaghan BL, Pawluski JL. It’s Time to Rebrand “Mommy Brain”. JAMA Neurol. Published online February 06, 2023. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2022.5180 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mommybrainrevisited/support

In this episode of Mommy Brain Revisited I talk with Dr Margaret Bublitz, a Clinical Psychologist and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, and Medicine, in the Department of Psychiatry, at the Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University.  We talk about her research on how child maltreatment early in life can modify the maternal brain in human mothers. We also talk about the need to support mothers, in general, and to talk more about the reality of motherhood. Such an interesting one you won’t want to miss! For more information about Dr. Bublitz and her research see: https://www.brown.edu/public-health/mindfulness/people/margaret-bublitz-phd Publication details: Bublitz MH, Swain J, Lustig S, Barthelemy C, DeYoung L, Dickstein D. Maternal History of Childhood Maltreatment and Brain Responses to Infant Cues Across the Postpartum Period. Child Maltreat. 2022 Sep 24:10775595221128952. doi: 10.1177/10775595221128952. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36154501. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mommybrainrevisited/support

On this episode of Mommy Brain Revisited talk with Emma Jane Unsworth, British writer and bestselling author. We talk about her memoir After the Storm: Postnatal Depression and the Utter Weirdness of New Motherhood and what she did to prepare for her second pregnancy and postpartum experience.  This podcast episode is part of a collaboration with InSPIre the Mind – a digital magazine – where we have been doing a series on Maternal Mental Health. Listen to the podcast, read the book and check out the maternal mental health series. All are musts. For more on Emma Jane Unsworth’s book After the Storm: Postnatal Depression and the Utter Weirdness of New Motherhood see: https://www.waterstones.com/book/after-the-storm/emma-jane-unsworth/9781788166553 You can read the Maternal Mental Health series here: https://www.inspirethemind.org/our-series --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mommybrainrevisited/support

On this episode of Mommy Brain Revisited I talk with Prof Carmine Pariante, a psychiatrist and professor at King's College London. This episode is part of a collaboration with InSPIre the Mind – a digital magazine – where we are doing a series of blogs on maternal mental illness. Over the next month check out stories from the series at : https://www.inspirethemind.org/our-series In this episode we talk about the different mental illnesses that can occur during the perinatal period, the causes for these illnesses, and the need to improve our support to those who birth the next generation. You can read the InSPIre the Mind Maternal Mental Illness series here: https://www.inspirethemind.org/our-series For more about Prof Carmine Pariante see: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/professor-carmine-pariante --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mommybrainrevisited/support

In this episode of Mommy Brain Revisited I talk with Dr. Amanda Kentner a Full Professor at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in the USA. We talk about her recent research published at eNeuro on the important role that enrichment can play in parenting and development. Don’t miss this episode on cutting edge research in behavioral neuroscience. So interesting! Download the publication here: https://www.eneuro.org/content/9/4/ENEURO.0148-22.2022 For more information about Prof. Kentner’s research see https://www.kentnerlab.org/ Citations: DeRosa H, Caradonna SG, Tran H, Marrocco J, Kentner AC. Milking It for All It's Worth: The Effects of Environmental Enrichment on Maternal Nurturance, Lactation Quality, and Offspring Social Behavior. eNeuro. 2022 Aug 25;9(4):ENEURO.0148-22.2022. doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0148-22.2022. PMID: 35995560. Follow @dr.jodi_pawluski on instagram for more on how the brain changes with parenting.  https://www.jodipawluski.com/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mommybrainrevisited/support

In this episode of Mommy Brain Revisited I talk with Dr. Bridget Callaghan, an Assistant Professor at UCLA, about recent research she’s done on memory during pregnancy. Love this research! We talk about “baby brain”, hippocampal-dependent memory changes during pregnancy – what the data shows, how we need to think about memory and motherhood, and where research needs to go to understand memory changes during the perinatal period in birthing and non-birthing parents. For more about her research see: https://brainandbodylab.psych.ucla.edu/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mommybrainrevisited/support

In this episode of Mommy Brain Revisited I talk with Dr. Ruth Feldman, the Simms-Mann Professor of Developmental Social Neuroscience at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzlia with joint appointment at Yale Child Study Center. We talk about her recent research on neural synchrony and how maternal cues can aid in neural synchrony between strangers and infants. We also talk about the importance of understanding brain changes with perinatal mental illness and her ongoing research on the parental brain.  Don’t miss this episode on cutting edge research from a leader in the field! For more information about Dr. Feldman’s research see https://ruthfeldmanlab.com/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mommybrainrevisited/support

In this episode of Mommy Brain Revisited I talk with Dr. James Rilling a Professor in the Department of Anthropology and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University in the USA. We talk about his research on brain changes in human fathers. So cool! We also talk the interplay between oxytocin, testosterone, dad brain changes as well as tradeoffs between parenting and mating and more! Don’t miss this episode and share it with a dad near you. For more information about Dr. Rilling’s research see: http://anthropology.emory.edu/home/people/faculty/rilling.html For more about me see www.jodipawluski.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mommybrainrevisited/support

In this episode of Mommy Brain Revisited I talk with Dr. Siobhain O’Mahony a Senior Lecturer at University College Cork, Ireland. We talk about the the Brain-Gut axis (or axes) and the role of the gut microbiome in pregnancy and postpartum. We also talk about the role that stress can play on this system. She updates us on how birth mode may affect the developing microbiome in infants - something that's been in the news a lot the past few years - and we talk about practical ways to mind our microbiome. We could have talked all day!  For more information about Dr. O’Mahony and her research: http://publish.ucc.ie/profiles/C003/somahony  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mommybrainrevisited/support