59. Probiotics and the Maternal Brain

Welcome to another episode of Mommy Brain Revisited! In this episode, I’m joined by Prof. Joseph Lonstein (Michigan State University) to talk about our recent research on how probiotic treatment shapes the maternal gut–microbiota–brain axis.This work—published in the Journal of Neuroendocrinology as part of the Parental Brain Special Issue—explores how reproductive experience influences the effects of Lactocaseibacillus rhamnosus HN001 on gut microbiota and hippocampal plasticity in female rats:📖 Citation: Pawluski JL, Kacimi K, Zhang C, Guillot L, Guidice AL, Charlier TD, Lonstein JS. Reproductive experience influences the effects of Lactocaseibacillus rhamnosus HN001 on gut microbiota and hippocampal plasticity in female rats. J Neuroendocrinol. 2025 Jul 22:e70068. doi: 10.1111/jne.70068The Journal of Neuroendocrinology (owned by the British Society for Neuroendocrinology) is the go-to international journal for neuroendocrine research, with an Impact Factor of 4.1 and a CiteScore of 7.9. Learn more here: Journal website.Stay tuned for more episodes in collaboration with the Parental Brain Special Issue at Mommy Brain Revisited!🎵 Music: Luna Wave – “All In My Head” via SoundStripe.

In this episode of Mommy Brain Revisited, I’m joined by Dr. Mariana Pereira, an Associate Professor at UMass. We dive into the maternal affective state and mother-offspring interactions in an animal model of depressive-like behavior. We also talk about dopamine, maternal mental health and treatment strategies. Tune in for a fascinating conversation on brain changes with maternal mood!For more about Dr Pereira's research, see here. Here is a direct link to the study we talk about. Tuncali, I., Sorial, N., Torr, K. et al. Positive maternal affect during mother–litter interaction is reduced in new mother rats exhibiting a depression-like phenotype. Sci Rep 13, 6552 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-33035-z

Pregnancy isn’t just about a baby bump—it’s also a massive hormonal and physiological shift, including how the body regulates temperature.In this episode of Mommy Brain Revisited, I’m joined by Dr. Rosie Brown, a Senior Lecturer and Group Leader at the University of Otago in New Zealand. We dive into the hormone prolactin—its role in motherhood and the brain—and explore her team’s groundbreaking research on how prolactin helps regulate body temperature during pregnancy. Tune in for a fascinating conversation on all things prolactin and parenting!For more information on Dr Brown’s research see:https://www.otago.ac.nz/neuroendocrinology/research/rosie-brown Here is the citation and link to the publication we talk about:Ladyman SR, Georgescu TR, Stewart AM, Khant Aung Z, Cheong I, Grattan DR, Brown RSE. Prolactin modulation of thermoregulatory circuits provides resilience to thermal challenge of pregnancy. Cell Rep. 2025 Apr 22;44(4):115567. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2025.115567. Epub 2025 Apr 11. PMID: 40215163. 

In this episode of Mommy Brain Revisited I talk with Prof Dr Natalya Chechko, a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy at Aachen University. We talk about her recent research investigating maternal brain changes and mental health. We also talk about the neuroendocrine factors that may be involved and how to visualize them in the human brain. Fascinating research! Enjoy. For more information on Dr Chechko’s research see here .Here is a link to her recent .

In this episode of Mommy Brain Revisited I talk with Katie Haigler, a graduate student at Penn State, about her research detailing how the maternal brain processes infant and adult emotion cues - aiding in our understanding of emotion regulation in parents. Interesting!For more about Katie’s research seehttps://hhd.psu.edu/contact/katherine-haigler Here is a direct link to the paper we talk about.

In this episode of Mommy Brain Revisited I talk with Prof Wendy Saltzman, who is in the Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology at the University of California, Riverside. We talk about her research detailing how caregiving affects the paternal brain and how fascinating parenting is in many species! For more about her research see :https://profiles.ucr.edu/wendy.saltzmanFor a direct link to her lab website see :https://sites.google.com/site/saltzmanlaboratory/Do you want to show your support fo MBR? Give us a rating or buy me a coffee (beer or book) https://buymeacoffee.com/mommybrainrevisited

In this episode I talk with Dr Laura Pritschet about her recent research detailing how the brain changes across pregnancy. It’s a fascinating study! Dr Pritschet is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. For more about her see: https://www.pennlinc.io/team/laura-pritschet The study we talk about: Pritschet L, Taylor CM, Cossio D, Faskowitz J, Santander T, Handwerker DA, Grotzinger H, Layher E, Chrastil ER, Jacobs EG. Neuroanatomical changes observed over the course of a human pregnancy. Nat Neurosci. 2024 Nov;27(11):2253-2260. doi: 10.1038/s41593-024-01741-0. Epub 2024 Sep 16. PMID: 39284962; PMCID: PMC11537970. Music: All in my head by Luna Wave via Soundstripe

In this episode of Mommy Brain Revisited, I talk with Dr Silvana Valtcheva, a Junior Group Leader at University of Cologne in the Faculty of Medicine, about her recent work on oxytocin and it’s role in the maternal brain and behaviour. For more about Dr Valtcheva’s research see: www.valtchevalab.com Paper we talk about: Valtcheva S*#, Issa HA*, Bair-Marshall CJ, Martin KA, Jung K, Zhang Y, Kwon HB, Froemke RC#, Neural circuitry for maternal oxytocin release induced by infant cries. 2023 Nature. Sep;621(7980):788-795. (*co-first author; #co-corresponding author) music: "All In My Head" by Luna Wave from Soundstripe

In this episode of Mommy Brain Revisited, I talk with Dr Darby Saxbe, Professor of Psychology at USC Dornslife. We talk about her recent work on how brain changes in fathers may reflect parenting engagement and mental health risk. Fascinating! For more about Dr Saxbe see https://dornsife.usc.edu/nestlab/current-members/ Her book ‘Dad Brain’ will be out in 2026! Can't wait! Paper we talk about: Saxbe D, Martínez-García M. Cortical volume reductions in men transitioning to first-time fatherhood reflect both parenting engagement and mental health risk. Cereb Cortex. 2024 Apr 1;34(4):bhae126. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhae126. PMID: 38615244. For more about Jodi Pawluski see www.jodipawluski.com. music: All In My Head - Luna Wave via Soundstripe

In this episode of Mommy Brain Revisited I talk with Dr Susana Carmona, Research Scientist at the Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón in Madrid, Spain. We talk about her recent research on how a mother’s brain changes from late pregnancy to the early postpartum published in Nature Neuroscience early this year. Fascinating research and the first of its kind! For more about Dr Carmona see: https://neuromaternal.es/ Her book is available in Spanish and titled: Neuromaternal: ¿Qué le pasa a mi cerebro durante el embarazo y la maternidad?. For our episode together on Matrescence and Adolescence see episode 6 here.   Paper we talk about: Paternina-Die, M., Martínez-García, M., Martín de Blas, D. et al. Women’s neuroplasticity during gestation, childbirth and postpartum. Nat Neurosci 27, 319–327 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-023-01513-2⁠ Link to paper⁠     Music: Luna Wave via Soundstripe