Project Grant R01MH139578

The National Institute of Mental Health awarded the University of Alabama at Birmingham $616,868 on August 12, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to investigate neural circuit mechanisms underlying postpartum social cognitive impairment induced by adolescent stress.

The recipient will develop and deploy a mouse model to explore how early life stress—specifically mild social isolation during late adolescence—affects postpartum behaviors and cognition. The research focuses on the longitudinal pathway from adolescent stress through pregnancy and delivery to postpartum psychiatric changes, including mood alterations, social cognitive deficits, and parenting impairment. The study will functionally and transcriptionally investigate how elevated and sustained plasma corticosterone levels alter neuronal function and produce behavioral deficits during the first postpartum week, with particular attention to glucocorticoid receptor mechanisms. The model demonstrates that stress-exposed female mice show no significant behavioral or hormonal changes at baseline or during pregnancy, but exhibit sustained corticosterone elevation and behavioral changes by postpartum day 7 that mirror patterns observed in postpartum depression patients. Preliminary work shows that blocking glucocorticoid receptors during the early postpartum period improves behavioral outcomes, highlighting the hormone's causal role in stress-related postpartum pathology.

The award carries a period of performance from August 12, 2026, through May 31, 2031. Work is performed in Birmingham, Alabama.