Oscar Vilarroya

Oscar Vilarroya Oliver
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona,
Hospital del Mar Research Institute, Barcelona
Project Leader

Dynamics of the neural, metabolomic and neuropsychological signatures underlying the adaptations for motherhood during pregnancy.

• Oscar Juan Pozo Mendoza
  Fundació Institut Mar d'Investigacions Mèdiques (IMIM), Barcelona

• Susana Carmona Cañabate
  Madrid

• Reinald Pamplona Gras
  Universitat de Lleida-IRBLleida, Lleida

• Anna Veiga
  Reproductive Medicine Service at Dexeus Women Health, Barcelona

The general aim of BABYBRAIN is to characterize how the brain is reorganized during pregnancy and the postpartum period, as well as to identify associations between brain changes, metabolomics and psychological dimensions related to motherhood. More specifically, the questions we are addressing are:

1. When do the brain changes induced by pregnancy begin and how do they evolve?

2. What are the hormonal factors mediating the neural and behavioral changes induced by pregnancy?

3. Are the brain changes induced by pregnancy related to the development of adaptive maternal behavior?

4. Do the psychological or environmental factors involved in pregnancy contribute to the reorganization of the mother’s brain?

Oscar Vilarroya, MD, PhD, is the Research Director at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). He is the head of the "Cognitive Neuroscience Research Unit" (URNC) at the Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine of the UAB, and of the "Neuroimaging in Mental Disorders" at the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute of Barcelona. Dr. Vilarroya's research focuses on understanding the neural, neuropsychological and hormonal changes that underlie the adaptions for motherhood, both in healthy women as well as in those who experience mental health issues. (Read the full CV).

• Mental disorders during pregnancy and postpartum
  We are interested in characterizing postpartum neural changes associated with perinatal depression and traumatic birth, as well as determining how such changes affect the mother-baby bond.

• Neuroscience of the adaptations for motherhood
  We are interested in characterizing how the brain is reorganized during pregnancy and the postpartum period, as well as to identify associations between brain changes, metabolomics and psychological dimensions related to motherhood.

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona
IMIM. Carrer Doctor Aiguader 88;
08003 Barcelona
Tel.: (+34) 93 316 04 85

Email: [email protected]
https://webs.uab.cat/vilarroya