Research interests
I am interested in how the changing hormones of pregnancy and lactation act on neural circuitry in the maternal brain to influence behaviour. In particular, I focus on maternal behaviour, a complex set of behaviours displayed by a mother that promote the survival and wellbeing of her offspring. Our work aims to understand how hormones normally act to direct a mother’s behaviour and how these processes may become disrupted.
At the Centre for Neuroendocrinology, I use transgenic mouse models to address the impact of specific neuroendocrine disruptions on maternal behaviour using behavioural assays. We investigate hormonal actions on neural circuitry underlying parental behaviour using a range of molecular, immunohistochemical and imaging approaches.
I am also interested in how changes in the ability of hormones to access the brain in different physiological or pathological states might underlie changes in hormone function.
Clinical conditions
Rosie Brown Laboratory staff & students
Isaiah Cheong, Assistant Research Fellow
Neuroendocrine regulation of maternal behaviour
Email isaiah.cheong@otago.ac.nz
Jenny Clarkson, Research Fellow
Neural circuits required for maternal adaptation to pregnancy
Email jenny.clarkson@otago.ac.nz
Judith Swart, PhD student
Involvement of the reward circuitry in prolactin’s regulation of maternal behaviour
Email swaju179@student.otago.ac.nz
Logan Wragg, B Biomed Sci student
Visit Our people for an alphabetical list of all Centre for Neuroendocrinology staff.
Publications
Georgescu, T., Khant Aung, Z., Grattan, D. R., & Brown, R. S. E. (2022). Prolactin-mediated restraint of maternal aggression in lactation. PNAS, 119(6), e2116972119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2116972119
Swart, J. M., Grattan, D. R., Ladyman, S. R., & Brown, R. S. E. (2021). Changes in maternal motivation across reproductive states in mice: A role for prolactin receptor activation on GABA neurons. Hormones & Behavior, 135, 105041. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2021.105041
Georgescu, T., Ladyman, S. R., Brown, R. S. E., & Grattan, D. R. (2020). Acute effects of prolactin on hypothalamic prolactin receptor expressing neurones in the mouse. Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 32, e12908. doi: 10.1111/jne.12908
Gustafson, P., Ladyman, S. R., McFadden, S., Larsen, C., Khant Aung, Z., Brown, R. S. E., Bunn, S. J., & Grattan, D. R. (2020). Prolactin receptor-mediated activation of pSTAT5 in the pregnant mouse brain. Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 32, e12901. doi: 10.1111/jne.12901
Stagkourakis, S., Smiley, K. O., Williams, P., Kakadellis, S., Ziegler, K., Bakker, J., Brown, R. S. E., … Grattan, D. R., & Broberger, C. (2020). A neuro-hormonal circuit for paternal behavior controlled by a hypothalamic network oscillation. Cell, 182, 960-975. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.07.007
