Pregnancy and Synaptic Plasticity

Pregnancy, as wonderful and exciting as it may be for couples and families, is also one of the most complex processes the human body can go through. Recently, researchers have decided to dig deeper into what happens in a woman’s brain during pregnancy, and the results show that synaptic plasticity may also play a role in it.

The news article “This Is Your Brain on Motherhood” by Jenni Gritters explores just that. In this article, multiple pieces of evidence are gathered to study a woman’s brain during pregnancy, including the research of three doctors: Dr. Elseline Hoekzema, Dr. Catherine Monk, and Dr. Jodi Pawluski. Dr. Hoekzema conducted M.R.I. scans of women before they got pregnant and after they gave birth and compared those scans to those of women who had not given birth. From the scans, Dr. Hoekzema discovered that the white matter of pregnant women’s brains did not change, but gray matter volume was reduced. Dr. Hoekzema hypothesized that the observed decrease in gray matter may be due to “synaptic pruning." Dr. Monk furthered Dr. Hoekzema’s hypothesis and proposed that “synaptic pruning” may even be the cause of the “mommy brain." However, it was Dr. Pawluski who took Dr. Hoekzema’s work a step further into the possibility of synaptic plasticity. She found and stated that “during pregnancy and the postpartum period, the adult brain is at its most plastic.” Dr. Pawluski also found a decrease in the production of new neurons during late pregnancy and the postpartum period but an increase in new connections in the brain in postpartum mice.

Dr. Delgado also researches synaptic plasticity. While he does not explicitly research it in regard to pregnancy or motherhood, the molecular foundation is the same. In his article titled “Pin1 Binding to Phosphorylated PSD-95 Regulates the Number of Functional Excitatory Synapses,” Dr. Delgado specifically researched the effects of an isomerase known as Pin1 and its effects on PSD-95. PSD-95 is a protein abundantly found at excitatory synapses. On PSD-95, there are two binding sites: phospho-T19 and S25, where Pin1 can bind. In Dr. Delgado's research, he found that when Pin1 binds to those sites on phosphorylated PSD-95, it "regulates the stability of excitatory synapses and may participate in the destabilization of PSD-95 following the induction of synaptic plasticity," which means that Pin1 plays a role in synaptic plasticity through its binding to PSD-95. While it is understood that Pin1 plays a role in synaptic plasticity, more research needs to be done to fully understand how exactly it impacts synaptic plasticity.

By understanding how synaptic plasticity works at the molecular level, researchers may use that knowledge to uncover larger questions, such as synaptic changes in pregnant women.

 References:

1.    1.   https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/parenting/mommy-brain-science.html?searchResultPosition=1

2.    2.   https://loyolauniversitychicago-my.sharepoint.com/personal/rmorrison_luc_edu/_layouts/15/onedrive.aspx?ga=1&id=%2Fpersonal%2Frmorrison%5Fluc%5Fedu%2FDocuments%2FTeaching%20%2D%20Onedrive%2FNEUR%20300%20%2D%20Neuroscience%20Seminar%2FNEUR%20300%20%2D%20Spring%2024%2FNEUR%2F%2804%2E09%2E24%29%20%2D%20Jary%20Delgado%2Ffnmol%5F13%5F00010%5Fpdf%2Epdf&parent=%2Fpersonal%2Frmorrison%5Fluc%5Fedu%2FDocuments%2FTeaching%20%2D%20Onedrive%2FNEUR%20300%20%2D%20Neuroscience%20Seminar%2FNEUR%20300%20%2D%20Spring%2024%2FNEUR%2F%2804%2E09%2E24%29%20%2D%20Jary%20Delgado