The maternal brain: influences of hormones, neuropeptides and environment on maternal care

产妇大脑：激素、神经肽和环境对产妇护理的影响

• 批准号: 7938-2011
• 负责人: Woodside, Barbara
• 金额: $ 2.91万
• 依托单位: Concordia University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=568547
• 关键词: maternal; brain; influences; hormones; neuropeptides

Motherhood is both behaviorally and energetically challenging for all female mammals. The ability of the female to meet these demands will determine how well her young survive and have longlasting effects on both their physiology and behavior. Not surprisingly there are quite dramatic changes in the maternal brain that facilitate the females' ability to cope with the demands of motherhood. A major goal of my research program is to use an animal model to identify the way in which the mother's hormones influence these brain changes so as to prepare her for the tasks of rearing young. We also investigate the way that environmental variables can influence the effects of hormonal state on the brain as well as precisely how these changes in the maternal brain affect the mother's behavior. These studies are important in two ways:1) there is sufficient overlap between species that the results from studies in rats may be applicable across a number of species including those important in agriculture such as sheep and cows as well as humans, 2) these studies allow us to understand how malleable the brain is and the diverse pathways through which hormones can influence both its structure and function.

对所有雌性哺乳动物来说，母性在行为和精力上都是一个挑战。雌性满足这些需求的能力将决定其后代的生存状况，并对他们的生理和行为产生长期影响。毫不奇怪，母亲的大脑发生了巨大的变化，促进了女性科普母性需求的能力。我的研究计划的一个主要目标是使用动物模型来确定母亲的激素影响这些大脑变化的方式，以便为养育后代的任务做好准备。我们还研究了环境变量如何影响荷尔蒙状态对大脑的影响，以及母亲大脑中的这些变化如何影响母亲的行为。这些研究在两个方面很重要：1）物种之间有足够的重叠，大鼠研究的结果可能适用于许多物种，包括那些重要的农业物种，如绵羊和牛以及人类，2）这些研究使我们能够了解大脑的可塑性以及激素可以影响其结构和功能的多种途径。