At Amsterdam UMC, Elseline Hoekzema directs a research group investigating peripartum brain plasticity. The primary focus of the Pregnancy Brain Lab is to study the impact of pregnancy on the brain.

Although animal studies have demonstrated a strong brain plasticity during this period, the impact of pregnancy on the human brain has long remained a virtually unstudied territory. Elseline has previously shown for the first time that pregnancy renders long-lasting changes in human brain structure. More recently, her research group has also provided the first evidence that becoming a mother involves changes in brain function. They are currently gathering more insights into the effects of pregnancy on different brain functions. As well as the brain changes accompanying a second pregnancy. Novel projects in her lab will focus on the similarity between these changes in humans and other mammals. Furthermore, the relation between these peripartum neural changes and the development of disorders of maternal mental health will be investigated. Hereby examining brain structure and function in women suffering from mother-infant bonding disorders and postpartum depression.

Elseline’s previous research work includes studies of human and rodent brain plasticity in response to various internal and external triggers. This reflects an interest in the capacity of the brain to change. In the last decade, she has specialised in peripartum brain plasticity and the study of how pregnancy and motherhood alter a woman’s brain.

Research group Pregnancy Brain Lab

By means of prospective pre-conception cohort studies, Elseline and her research group investigate how pregnancy changes different aspects of brain anatomy, microstructure, metabolism and activity. In addition, they examine the biological (e.g. hormones, genetics, the microbiome) and other factors (e.g. stress, sleep, psychosocial aspects) that drive these changes and the functional implications for the mother-infant dyad, for instance regarding maternal mental health.

Elseline has received various grants to support her work. A Veni Innovational Research Grant by the Dutch Research Council (NWO); a NARSAD grant by the Brain and Behaviour Foundation; an ERC Starting Grant by the European Research Council; and a Vidi Innovational Research Grant. For more information or media coverage on the studies and findings, see www.pregnancybrainlab.com