Motherhood and Structural Plasticity in the Hippocampus

描述（由申请人提供）：产后期间伴随着激素和行为的巨大变化，这些变化对生殖成功至关重要。除了生育的变化，怀孕和产后时期与非生殖行为的改变有关，包括某些类型的学习和记忆。尽管有这些报道，但人们对母性的神经后果知之甚少，特别是对与认知功能相关的大脑区域。海马体就是这样一个大脑区域，它的结构可塑性也得到了广泛的认可。具体来说，各种激素和经验因素影响树突结构，突触的数量和整个成年期海马体中新神经元的产生。然而，迄今为止，还没有研究调查的可能性，在结构可塑性的改变发生在海马在产后期间。因此，拟议的研究将探讨以下具体目标：1）确定海马结构可塑性是否在产后期间发生变化2）评估是否与产后期间相关的激素和经验变化是海马结构可塑性变化的基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The postpartum period is accompanied by dramatic changes in hormones and behavior that are critical for reproductive success. In addition to changes in caregiving, pregnancy and the postpartum period are associated with alterations in non-reproductive behaviors, including certain types of learning and memory. Despite these reports, very little, if anything, is known about the neural consequences of motherhood, particularly for brain regions associated with cognitive function. The hippocampus is one such brain region that is also well-recognized for its capacity for structural plasticity. Specifically, various hormonal and experiential factors affect dendritic structure, the number of synapses and the production of new neurons in the hippocampus throughout adulthood. However, no studies to date have investigated the possibility that alterations in structural plasticity occur in the hippocampus during the postpartum period. Thus, the proposed studies will explore the following specific aims: 1) To determine whether structural plasticity in the hippocampus is altered during the postpartum period 2) To evaluate whether hormonal and experiential changes associated with the postpartum period underlie changes in structural plasticity in the hippocampus.