Rebecca Shansky

Sponsor: National Institute of Mental Health

The path to the parous brain: allopregnanolone-mediated mechanisms at GABAA receptors.

Pregnancy is characterized by marked changes in circulating hormones that can induce long-lasting changes in the brain. The goal of this project is to determine how the hormone allopregnanolone may induce a robust neural inhibition in the medial prefrontal cortex during pregnancy, resulting in over-compensatory actions that persist well after birth. Our work will provide much-needed insight into the development of the brain post-pregnancy.