In this episode of Mommy Brain Revisited, host Dr. Jodi Pawluski speaks with Dr. Jennifer O'Chan at Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA. They discuss Dr O’Chan’s recent Nature paper investigating how pregnancy and postpartum reshape the maternal brain through long-lasting epigenetic changes. Her work shows that reproductive experience produces persistent changes in gene expression—particularly in thehippocampus—that are associated with improved maternal behaviors, learning, and memory months after giving birth. These findings build on growing evidence that pregnancy leaves lasting biological adaptations in the brain rather thantemporary changes.

The conversation also explores how chronic postpartum stress disrupts these beneficial adaptations. Dr. O'Chan explains that elevated dopamine during postpartum stress alters a novel epigenetic mechanism called histone dopaminylation, leading to changes in gene expression and behavior.

Together, these findings provide new insight into the central role of dopamine in regulating motherhood-induced neuroadaptions and highlight potential pathways for developing more targeted treatments for perinatal mentalhealth disorders.

The Research

Publication information: O’Chan, J.C., Di Salvo, G., Cunningham, A.M. et al. Dopamine drives persistent remodelling of the maternal brain. Nature 654, 465–475 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10509-4

Visit www.jodipawluski.com for more on mom brain, parenting and perinatal mental health.

In this episode of Mommy Brain Revisited, host Dr. Jodi Pawluski speaks with Dr. Elseline Hoekzema about her recent research on how pregnancy reshapes the brain—and whether those changes happen differently during a second pregnancy.

Drawing on longitudinal brain imaging studies, Dr. Hoekzema explains how many of the structural brain changes observed in first-time mothers reappear during a second pregnancy, but often to a lesser degree. The conversation explores how pregnancy fine-tunes brain networks involved in social cognition, self-perception, attention, and processing sensory cues, while also revealing unique adaptations that may help mothers manage the demands of caring for multiple children.

They discuss the concept of "maternal memory," why some brain changes appear to be long-lasting, and how becoming a mother for the first time may trigger distinct neural adaptations that are not repeated in subsequent pregnancies. The episode offers a fascinating look at the latest neuroscience of motherhood and what researchers are learning about the remarkable plasticity of the parental brain.

The Research

The featured study is published in the Journal of Neuroendocrinology Special Issue on the Parental Brain, edited by Dr Jodi Pawluski, Dr Joseph Lonstein, Dr Susana Carmona and Dr Oscar Vilarroya.

Publication information:

Halmans S, Straathof M, van 't Hof S, Denys D, Crone EA, Månsson KNT, Hoekzema E. Neural variability across the transition to motherhood: Enhanced moment-to-moment neural variability during mentalizing in first-time mothers. J Neuroendocrinol. 2026 May;38(5):e70191. doi: 10.1111/jne.70191. PMID: 42062236; PMCID: PMC13132796.

Halmans S, Straathof M, van 't Hof S, Denys D, Crone EA, Månsson KNT, Hoekzema E. Pregnancy changes the variability of brain signaling, NeuroImage, Volume 333, 2026, 121923,

ISSN 1053-8119, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121923.

Special thanks to Agnes, the Communications Officer, British Society for Neuroendocrinology for editing!

Visit www.jodipawluski.com for more on all things parenting and perinatal mental health.

In this episode of Mommy Brain Revisited, host Dr. Jodi Pawluski speaks with Dr. James Rilling from the Department of Psychology at Emory University about his recent paper published in the Journal of Neuroendocrinology special issue on the parental brain.

The conversation explores how fatherhood changes the brain, with a focus on motivation, reward, and neural mechanisms involved in paternal caregiving.

Drawing on both human and animal research, Dr. Rillingdiscusses how becoming a parent may reshape motivational systems in the brain.

Inspired by studies in maternal behavior in rats, his research investigates whether human fathers experience similar shifts in reward processing and caregiving motivation across the transition to parenthood.

The Research

The featured study examined how brain function and caregiving motivation change in first-time fathers from pregnancy through the postpartum period.

The research is published in the Journal of Neuroendocrinology.

Publication information:

The transition to human fatherhood involves increased brain activation to infant stimuli in regions involved with reward and motivation

James K. Rilling, Minwoo Lee, Carolyn Zhou, Esther Jung, Ella Arrant, Sijia Wu, Jessica A. Cooper, Agena Davenport-Nicholson, Michael T. Treadway

First published: 22 December 2025

https://doi.org/10.1111/jne.70127

Special thanks to Agnes, the Communications Officer, BritishSociety for Neuroendocrinology for editing!

Visit www.jodipawluski.com for more on all things parenting and perinatal mental health.