Archives of Women's Mental Health - Call for Papers: Topical Collection on Cognition and Motherhood: A key to understanding perinatal mental health?

Guest Editors: 

Dr. Jodi Pawluski 

Institut de Recherche en Santé, Environnement et Travail (Irset), University of Rennes, France

Dr. Bridget Callaghan

University of California, Los Angeles

Call for Papers: 

Changes in memory and cognition across pregnancy and the postpartum period have long been discussed with nearly 80% of mothers reporting that they feel some sort of negative impact of pregnancy or motherhood on the brain function. However, objective memory tests tell a different story, perhaps because of the limited research in this area, suggesting that there are a variety of changes in cognition with the transition to motherhood that may be adaptive but may also contribute to, or be a result of mental illness, during this time. Thus, this topical collection aims to bring together research on cognitive changes with the transition to motherhood, and parenting, in general, and how these changes relate to perinatal mental health taking into account key social and neurobiological factors that may be contributing to these cognitive changes.

Section Editor Dr Jodi Pawluski and Guest Editor Dr Bridget Callaghan are leading the call for papers on cognition and motherhood. We are looking for original research in clinical populations and animal models, systematic reviews, and short communications investigating the impact of pregnancy and motherhood on cognitive capacity and memory function. We encourage the submission of articles that examine the adaptive and maladaptive effects of pregnancy and parenting on cognition with an emphasis on the role of sociological, physiological and neurobiological factors.

Submission Deadline: January 30, 2024 (tentative)