The PMADS Project: A Longitudinal Multimodal Cohort Study to Understand Risk for Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Reproductive Health

Background:

• Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) are common pregnancy complications.
• Profound hormonal shifts and brain plasticity characterize the perinatal period.
• Mechanisms linking neurobiology to PMADs risk remain poorly understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design a prospective, longitudinal study integrating multimodal neuroimaging, biofluid sampling, and clinical phenotyping.
• To precisely characterize neurobiological trajectories associated with PMADs risk.
• To identify quantitative biomarkers for PMADs.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 25 individuals at elevated risk for PMADs preconception.
• Followed participants across six in-person timepoints (menstrual cycle, pregnancy, postpartum) with remote follow-ups.
• Collected multimodal data: structural MRI, fMRI, diffusion MRI, ASL, glutamate MRS, biofluids, clinical/behavioral/cognitive assessments.

Main Results:

• Established a longitudinal, multimodal framework for studying neurobiological changes during the transition to pregnancy.
• Anchored pregnancy-related brain changes to preconception and menstrual cycle variability.
• Designed to evaluate associations between hormone sensitivity, neuroplasticity, and PMADs risk.

Conclusions:

• The study provides a deeply phenotyped longitudinal resource for brain-behavior research in the perinatal period.
• Findings will inform future studies on PMADs' mechanistic understanding.
• Aims to improve risk stratification and support personalized interventions for PMADs.