Research

Research in the Lonstein Lab aims to understand the neurobiology of postpartum caregiving and affective behaviors in mammals. Non-mothers of most species do not readily care for infants, but a very dramatic change in maternal responding occurs after females experience pregnancy and their infants are born. 

We are devoted to studying the neurochemical and structural plasticity underlying the remarkable peripartum changes in maternal state, with a particular interest in the trade-offs between maternal caregiving and emotional reactivity in postpartum laboratory rats. Many female rodents show reduced fear and anxiety after giving birth to young, which is essential for the mother's ability to display high levels of maternal care towards the potentially anxiety-provoking pups and focus on their ongoing needs. Our research involves studying this question at many levels of analysis. These include detailed observation of maternal caregiving and emotion-related behaviors; neuroanatomical tracing; measuring expression of neurotransmitter receptors and proteins using qPCR, RNAScope, autoradiography, and Western blotting; determining levels of neurotransmitter content and release using microdialysis and HPLC; and viral vector manipulation of specific genes in the brain.

Maternal caregiving is vital for the normal development, if not survival, of infants. Our work on understanding the maternal brain, thus, has clear implications for not only non-human development but also the well-being of human mothers and their infants.