In female mice, researchers have found a link between adolescent psychosocial stress due to isolation and the risk of postpartum depression during pregnancy.
- Psychosocial stress related to isolation experienced during adolescence increases the risk of postpartum depression.
- Postpartum depression is a feeling of overwhelming sadness and hopelessness.
- 16.7% of women are affected two months after giving birth.
16.7% of women are affected by postpartum depression two months after giving birth, according to health insurance. This is defined by the MSD Manual as “a feeling of sadness and hopelessness that prevents you from going about your normal activities. It begins during the weeks and months following childbirth.”
Teenage stress only affects pregnancy
In a study published in the journal NatureCommunications, researchers have found an explanation for the development of postpartum depression in some women. Anyway, in mice, they found that the psychological stress experienced during adolescence alters neuronal functions in the brain, which leads to an alteration in behavior but only during the postpartum period.
Indeed, according to the researchers, mice socially isolated at the end of adolescence – which is a psychosocial stressor – have no behavioral change before becoming pregnant.
During their work, the scientists managed to find the neural circuit by which adolescent stress alters postpartum behavior. This is the axis between the insula and the prelimbic area of the cortex. In rats, the prelimbic area of the medial prefrontal cortex is involved in many cognitive processes. The insula, another area of the brain, has very varied functions, and in particular modulates emotional and sensory information.
To better understand this neural circuit, the scientists compared mouse mothers who were stressed in late adolescence to a control group of mouse mothers who were unstressed in adolescence because they had normal social interactions with other mice.
Psychosocial stress causes postpartum depression
Thus, the researchers discovered that a decrease in activity on this axis between the insula and the prelimbic area of the cortex was associated with a lower acceptance of social novelty in stressed mothers.
“Our study shows significant results that demonstrate the involvement of the axis between the insula and the prelimbic area of the cortex in the [impacts comportementaux durant le] stress-induced postpartum in adolescents linked to recognition of other mice, which is a key aspect of social behavior“, says Minae Niwa, one of the authors, in a communicated. In other words, the psychosocial stress related to the isolation experienced during adolescence increases the risk of postpartum depression.
In the future, the researchers want to continue their research to better understand what is before and after this axis. This would allow them to better understand the mechanisms of changes in postpartum social behavior induced by social isolation.