Viral infections during pregnancy affect maternal care behaviour

Viral infections during pregnancy affect the mother's brain and her postpartum care behaviour. These are the findings of a research study in a mouse model conducted at MedUni Vienna. The results were published in the leading journal "Molecular Psychiatry". There is ample data from studies in mouse models demonstrating that viral infections during pregnancy can affect the developing brain of the young in utero (in the womb) with lifelong consequences for brain function and behaviour. A preclinical study has now shown, for the first time, that a viral-like immune activation during pregnancy also affects the maternal brain and significantly disrupts maternal care behaviour after the birth. These results are published by a research group led by behavioural biologist Daniela D. Pollak from the Division of Neurophysiology and Pharmacology at MedUni Vienna's Center for Physiology and Pharmacology, working together with colleagues from the Division of Molecular Neurosciences at MedUni Vienna's Center for Brain Research and from Columbia University (USA). In this preclinical study the researchers used a chemical substance that activates the same receptor pathways as viruses, to trigger the immune system of the mother during pregnancy in a manner that is comparable to the typical course of a viral infection.