Grant from the Research Fund of the Mental Health Services - Capital Region of DK

Congratulations to NRU senior researcher Vibe G. Frøkjær for receiving a grant worth 895.000 DKK from the Research Fund of the Mental Health Services - Capital Region of Denmark for the project entitled 'Structural and functional brain signatures of sex-hormone transitions and implications for perinatal mental health'.

The grant includes a PhD-stipend for NRU PhD-student Camilla Borgsted Larsen. The aims of the project are listed below:

Aims
1. Determine (a) if the emergence of depressive symptoms from late pregnancy to 4 weeks postpartum map onto molecular brain imaging markers of serotonin signaling early postpartum, and (b) evaluate if such markers or symptoms are dependent on serotonin transporter genotype and/or gene transcript biomarkers for estrogen sensitivity
2. Map the association between serotonin-4 receptor (5-HT4R) brain binding and cerebrospinal fluid markers of serotonergic tone (serotonin and 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid (5-HIAA))
3. Evaluate if a pharmacologically induced biphasic estradiol fluctuation affects hippocampal volume in a manner dependent on the emergence of depressive symptoms and/or cognitive functions in healthy women and if this translates to peripartum women.