65. Dopamine’s Role in Remodelling the Maternal Brain

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

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