In this episode of Mommy Brain Revisited, Dr Tim Oberlander and I briefly discuss SSRI use in pregnancy and the importance of focusing on maternal mental health in this area of research.

Our conversation centers on our perspective, Potential risks and benefits of prenatal selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor medications for maternal mental health and child development published in Nature Mental Health.

We emphasize the complexity of separating medication effects from underlying maternal depression and the importance of comprehensive approaches, including pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatments.

For more on current treatment guidelines for perinatal mental health see:

https://www.canmat.org/2025/02/12/available-now-canmat-2024-guidelines-for-perinatal-mood-anxiety-and-related-disorders-and-accompanying-patient-and-family-guide/

Dr. Tim Oberlander has over 3 decades of research on maternal mental health, SSRIs and child development. He is a Developmental Pediatrician, Clinician-Scientist and Professor of Pediatrics in the School of Population Public Health, University of British Columbia and BC Children’s Hospital.

Our publication: Pawluski, J., Oberlander, T.F. Potential risksand benefits of prenatal selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor medications for maternal mental health and child development. Nat. Mental Health 3,1304–1310 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-025-00480-w

For more on your host see www.jodipawluski.com or follow Jodi on Instagram or LinkedIn.

In this episode, I sit down with Danielle S. Stolzenberg, Ph.D. , Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Davis, whose work explores the neuroscience of care.

Dr. Stolzenberg shares insights from her emerging research on psychedelic compounds in the postpartum period, examining how substances like psilocybin may influence maternal stress, bonding, and brain plasticity.

Whether you’re interested in neuroscience, maternal health, or the rapidly evolving field of psychedelic science, this conversation provides a grounded and thought-provoking look at what we know—and what we still need to learn—about psychedelics postpartum.

Dr Stolzenberg's Lab : https://stolzenberg.wixsite.com/laboratory

Paper we discuss: Hatzipantelis, C.J., Liu, M., Love, A. et al. Psilocybin during the postpartum period induces long-lasting adverse effects in both mothers and offspring. Nat Commun 16, 8630 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-64371-5

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-64371-5

Music: Luna Wave via Soundstripe

Editing with the help of Descript!

Welcome to another episode of Mommy Brain Revisited! In this episode, I’m joined by Prof. Joseph Lonstein (Michigan State University) to talk about our recent research on how probiotic treatment shapes the maternal gut–microbiota–brain axis.

This work—published in the Journal of Neuroendocrinology as part of the Parental Brain Special Issue—explores how reproductive experience influences the effects of Lactocaseibacillus rhamnosus HN001 on gut microbiota and hippocampal plasticity in female rats:

📖 Citation: Pawluski JL, Kacimi K, Zhang C, Guillot L, Guidice AL, Charlier TD, Lonstein JS. Reproductive experience influences the effects of Lactocaseibacillus rhamnosus HN001 on gut microbiota and hippocampal plasticity in female rats. J Neuroendocrinol. 2025 Jul 22:e70068. doi: 10.1111/jne.70068

The Journal of Neuroendocrinology (owned by the British Society for Neuroendocrinology) is the go-to international journal for neuroendocrine research, with an Impact Factor of 4.1 and a CiteScore of 7.9. Learn more here: Journal website.

Stay tuned for more episodes in collaboration with the Parental Brain Special Issue at Mommy Brain Revisited!

🎵 Music: Luna Wave – “All In My Head” via SoundStripe.