Maternal Brain Research | Dr Jodi Pawluski

Click here for a full list of my scientific publications and editorials.

I am an affiliated researcher in the EthoS Unit at the University of Rennes, France. My research program examines the neurobiological impact of pregnancy and motherhood on brain plasticity, with a particular focus on the biopsychosocial mechanisms underlying the cognitive and emotional demands of motherhood and vulnerability to perinatal mental illness. I investigate how reproductive transitions shape maternal brain function, behaviour, and mental health, with the overarching goal of improving the prevention and treatment of mental illness during pregnancy and the postpartum period.

My work integrates behavioural, neurobiological, and translational approaches to address key questions in perinatal mental health, including:

How the mental load of motherhood relates to cognitive function (particularly memory) and mental health in parents (MOMENTS STUDY)
Whether a novel probiotic intervention can mitigate risk for the development of maternal mental illness
- selected publication here.
How perinatal exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) influences neurobehavioural outcomes in both mothers and their offspring
- selected publications here.

My research aims to advance understanding of the maternal brain

and inform evidence-based strategies to support mental health across the perinatal period.

Recent research-related activities

I'm the Head Of Research at Strategies for Moms. We're developing Smarter Tools To Support Every Mother.

Intelligence, Innovation, and Insights To Protect The Well-Being Of Mothers, Infants, and Families

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I'm the Leader of Working Group 5 at the European Initiative COST Action EU-SABV, the first Europe-wide effort to provide training and enhance policy to ensure that both males and females are studied in early-stage biomedical research.

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I'm the Section Editor for Neuroscience at Archives of Women's Mental Health Journal (Springer Nature) a comprehensive scientific journal focusing on all aspects of women's mental health.

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Selected recent scientific publications.

*lead author

Potential risks and benefits of prenatal selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor medications for maternal mental health and child development. Pawluski, J., Oberlander, T.F. Nat. Mental Health (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-025-00480-w

Reproductive experience influences the effects of Lactocaseibacillus rhamnosus HN001 on gut microbiota and hippocampal plasticity in female rats. Pawluski JL*, Kacimi K, Zhang C, Guillot L, Guidice AL, Charlier TD, Lonstein JS. J Neuroendocrinol. 2025 Jul 22:e70068. doi: 10.1111/jne.70068. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40696219.

The parental brain, perinatal mental illness, and treatment: A review of key structural and functional changes.
Pawluski JL. Semin Perinatol. 2024 Oct;48(6):151951. doi: 10.1016/j.semperi.2024.151951. Epub 2024 Jul 14.

Maternal probiotic Lactocaseibacillus rhamnosus HN001 treatment alters postpartum anxiety, cortical monoamines, and the gut microbiome. Lonstein JS, Meinhardt TA, Pavlidi P, Kokras N, Dalla C, Charlier TD, Pawluski JL. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2024 Jul;165:107033. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2024.107033. Epub 2024 Mar 19.

The 7th International Meeting on the Neuroscience of Parenting. Pawluski JL, Brunton PJ, Bosch OJ. J Neuroendocrinol. 2023 Jul;35(7):e13321. doi: 10.1111/jne.13321. Epub 2023 Jul 14.

Gestational stress and perinatal SSRIs differentially impact the maternal and neonatal microbiome-gut-brain axis.
Pawluski JL*, Murail P, Grudet F, Bys L, Golubeva AV, Bastiaanssen T, Oberlander TF, Cryan JF, O'Mahony SM, Charlier TD.
J Neuroendocrinol. 2023 Jul;35(7):e13261. doi: 10.1111/jne.13261. Epub 2023 May 2.

Understanding the maternal brain in the context of the mental load of motherhood. Callaghan, B.L., McCormack, C., Kim, P. , Pawluski, J.L. Nat. Mental Health 2, 764–772 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-024-00268-4

It's Time to Rebrand "Mommy Brain". McCormack C, Callaghan BL, Pawluski JL*. JAMA Neurol. 2023 Feb 6. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2022.5180. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36745418.

Less can be more: Fine tuning the maternal brain. Pawluski JL*, Hoekzema E, Leuner B, Lonstein JS.Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2022 Feb;133:104475. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.11.045. Epub 2021 Dec 2.PMID: 34864004 Review.

The brain oxytocin and corticotropin-releasing factor systems in grieving mothers: What we know and what we need to learn. Demarchi L, Pawluski JL, Bosch OJ. Peptides. 2021 Sep;143:170593. doi: 10.1016/j.peptides.2021.170593. Epub 2021 Jun 6.PMID: 34091013 Review

Neurobiology of peripartum mental illness. Pawluski JL*, Swain JE, Lonstein JS.Handb Clin Neurol. 2021;182:63-82. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-819973-2.00005-8.PMID: 34266612 Review.

Perinatal selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) and other antidepressant exposure effects on anxiety and depressive behaviors in offspring: A review of findings in humans and rodent models. Hutchison SM, Mâsse LC, Pawluski JL, Oberlander TF.Reprod Toxicol. 2021 Jan;99:80-95. doi: 10.1016/j.reprotox.2020.11.013. Epub 2020 Nov 27.PMID: 33253794 Review.

Moving Forward From COVID-19: Bridging Knowledge Gaps in Maternal Health With a New Conceptual Model. Dickens MJ, Pawluski JL, Romero LM.Front Glob Womens Health. 2020 Nov 4;1:586697. doi: 10.3389/fgwh.2020.586697. eCollection 2020.PMID: 34816162 Free PMC article.

Sex matters in neuroscience and neuropsychopharmacology. Pawluski JL, Kokras N, Charlier TD, Dalla C.Eur J Neurosci. 2020 Jul;52(1):2423-2428. doi: 10.1111/ejn.14880. Epub 2020 Jul 3.PMID: 32578303

Effect of sertraline on central serotonin and hippocampal plasticity in pregnant and non-pregnant rats. Pawluski JL, Paravatou R, Even A, Cobraiville G, Fillet M, Kokras N, Dalla C, Charlier TD.Neuropharmacology. 2020 Apr;166:107950. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2020.107950. Epub 2020 Jan 11.PMID: 31935392