For our Neuroscientist of the Month this February, we introduce Dr Jodi Pawluski, a Canadian behavioural neuroscientist and therapist based at the University of Rennes 1 in France.
Her research focuses on the neuroscience of motherhood, and the effects of maternal mental illness and its treatment with antidepressant medications on the mother and developing offspring. Specifically, she is interested in how reproductive experience affects the female brain response to stress, particularly during pregnancy and postpartum. The majority of her work is in rodent models.
In her role as a psychotherapist and counsellor, she provides support and counselling for women struggling with their transition to pregnancy and motherhood, feelings about their medication use, and struggles with loss.
Jodi also hosts the podcast "Mommy Brain Revisited", where she talks with other experts in the field about the neuroscience of parenting (https://www.jodipawluski.com/mommybrainrevisited). She is currently writing a book on the parental brain, which will be released in autumn 2022.
More information can be found at https://www.jodipawluski.com/ or https://www.womensneuronet.com/team/jodi-pawluski.