MARIA MCDONALD: So I really started
with the broad question, very broad question, of,
what does it mean for mental health, particularly
depression, to be transgenerational?
We know there are a lot of environmental risk
factors there that plays an important role.
But I really was interested in this genetic component.
As a family nurse practitioner, I
do work with people who do have anxiety, depression.
I can hear from women their experiences.
And that also sparks the additional question of,
if this is transgenerational, really understanding what
it means if a woman has depression
during pregnancy, across pregnancy, what could that
mean for mom's mental health in the postpartum period as well
as the child's mental health?
A mother having depression during pregnancy--
we think about her ability to bond with her--
with being pregnant and then with her child as a newborn.
We know that's a really crucial developmental period
for children as they're growing.
And having that bonding is very important for both mom
and for baby.
So oxytocin is the love hormone or social interaction
hormone across pregnancy.
It has important implications.
It has important functions for delivery.
But it's also doing these things in the brain, as well,
and be important in regulating emotion
in that social interaction.
Each of us have our own endogenous oxytocin,
which means that our bodies are already producing it.
The way to understand how oxytocin is being used
is to assess its receptor.
So if there are changes in the gene receptor,
that may have implications for how oxytocin is being used
and could have important implications
for that social interaction.
When we're already producing it, how does adding in oxytocin
in the form of synthetic oxytocin in humans--
we use Pitocin--
what does that mean?
And how does it change the brain and the blood?
Increase of the methyl group that's added to the gene
will actually suppress the expression of the gene.
And that can have implications for,
again, continuing on with symptoms that we would say
might be related to postpartum depression or depression,
anxiety.
My work in clinical practice is working with humans.
However, we can't do some of these invasive procedures
and take brain samples and see what--
if there are correlations between the brain
and the blood.
So is how the genes are expressed in the brain
the same as what they are in the blood?
And we want to do that because then we don't
have to take brain samples.
We can draw blood from people.
And that can be used in a clinical practice setting.
For this particular study, we will be using the [INAUDIBLE]
and examining both brain and blood
samples to see those relationships between the brain
and the blood.
If there are correlations, that can be a very good indication
that we can use that as a proxy in humans as well.
We can draw blood samples.
And that can give us an idea of what the brain is doing,
as well, the oxytocin in the brain is doing as well.
There are studies that are showing long-term consequences
of using exogenous oxytocin for outcomes
of postpartum depression.
Oftentimes, we will use medications
in practice for an important reason.
We definitely want to reduce and eliminate
this postpartum hemorrhage.
It can be a very serious complication.
And so this has lifesaving effects.
However, use of Pitocin--
yes, though it's important, there
are also risk factors associated with it.
So all medications have side effects and have consequences.
And so if we are able to recognize that it's good
to use, it's--
has been helpful-- but, at the same time,
how do we individualize it so we can
reduce those potential negative effects that we don't want down
the line?