The Maternal Reward System in Postpartum Depression

Overview

Journal Arch Womens Ment Health

Publisher Springer

Specialties Gynecology & Obstetrics
Psychiatry
Psychology

Date 2018 Dec 17

PMID 30554286

Citations 16

Authors

Caitlin Post

Benedetta Leuner

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The experience of motherhood is most often emotionally positive and rewarding, but for many new mothers suffering from postpartum depression (PPD), this is not the case. Preclinical and clinical research has sought to uncover brain changes underlying PPD in order to gain a better understanding of how this disorder develops. This review focuses on the mesolimbic dopamine system, particularly the ventral tegmental area-nucleus accumbens pathway which has been implicated in the regulation of critical functions disrupted in PPD including mood, motivation, and mothering. Specifically, we discuss normative changes in the mesolimbic system during motherhood in both rodents and humans and how these are impacted in PPD. We also consider modulation of mesolimbic dopamine by the hypothalamic neuropeptide oxytocin and how oxytocin-dopamine interactions regulate mood and mothering during the postpartum period. In addition to providing an overview of reward mechanisms in PPD, our goal is to highlight open questions which warrant further research.

Citing Articles

Mothering matters: Towards a better understanding of disrupted infant-caregiver relationships in both mother and offspring.

Rincon-Cortes M Neurobiol Stress. 2025; 34:100701.

PMID: 39801763 PMC: 11719408. DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2024.100701.

Gestational stress disrupts dopamine and oxytocin signaling in the postpartum reward system of rats: implications for mood, motivation and mothering.

Haim A, Albin-Brooks C, Brothers H, Breach M, Leuner B Sci Rep. 2025; 15(1):1450.

PMID: 39789137 PMC: 11718260. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-84043-6.

Hormone Regulation of Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Receptor 1 in the Female Mouse Brain.

De Guzman R, Jacobskind J, Rosinger Z, Rybka K, Parra K, Caballero A Neuroendocrinology. 2024; 114(12):1139-1157.

PMID: 39586245 PMC: 11813687. DOI: 10.1159/000542751.

Bridging Neurobiological Insights and Clinical Biomarkers in Postpartum Depression: A Narrative Review.

Zhang K, He L, Li Z, Ding R, Han X, Chen B Int J Mol Sci. 2024; 25(16).

PMID: 39201521 PMC: 11354679. DOI: 10.3390/ijms25168835.

Mitochondrial might: powering the peripartum for risk and resilience.

Gorman-Sandler E, Wood G, Cloude N, Frambes N, Brennen H, Robertson B Front Behav Neurosci. 2024; 17:1286811.

PMID: 38187925 PMC: 10767224. DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1286811.

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