Erika Comasco
Researcher at Department of Women's and Children's Health; Neuropsychopharmacology
- Telephone:
- +46 18 471 50 20
- E-mail:
- erika.comasco@uu.se
- Visiting address:
- MTC-huset, Dag Hammarskjölds väg 14B, 1tr
752 37 Uppsala - Postal address:
- Akademiska sjukhuset
751 85 Uppsala
Researcher at Department of Women's and Children's Health; Neuropsychopharmacology
- Visiting address:
- MTC-huset, Dag Hammarskjölds väg 14B, 1tr
752 37 Uppsala - Postal address:
- Akademiska sjukhuset
751 85 Uppsala
- Academic merits:
- PhD, Associate Professor
- ORCID:
- 0000-0002-2174-2068
More information is available to staff who log in.
Short presentation
Erika Comasco´s research focuses on the interactive effect of (epi)genetic and psychosocial factors on mental health, and development of ill-health, within multidisciplinary collaborative projects. Emphasis is on adolescents and women, and on sex differences.
See more at:
https://www.neuro.uu.se/research/research-groups/erika-comasco/
https://www.scilifelab.se/researchers/erika-comasco/
Keywords
- addiction
- adolescent mental health
- brain
- depression
- epigenetics
- genetics
- hormones
- mood
- treatment
- women
- womher
Research
Neuropsychopharmacology
Focusing on psychoneurobiology, activities of the group include:
- research on the molecular underpinnings of gonadal hormones´influence on women’s behaviour and mental health; by employing genetic, endocrine, pharmacological, neurophysiological and neuroimaging measures, we aim to characterize diagnosis- and treatment-related biomarkers of sex-specific disorders.
- research on the effects of early-life stress and alcohol exposure on brain and behaviour; (epi)gene-environment interactions are investigated in rodents as well as human population-based samples, with special focus on adolescence, to identify biomarkers of vulnerability to alcohol use and misuse.
Publications
Recent publications
- White matter integrity upon progesterone antagonism in individuals with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (2025)
- Mid-pregnancy allopregnanolone levels and trajectories of perinatal depressive symptoms (2024)
- Cortical morphology variations during the menstrual cycle in individuals with and without premenstrual dysphoric disorder (2024)
- Electroencephalography findings in menstrually-related mood disorders (2024)
- White matter volume and treatment with selective progesterone receptor modulator in patients with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (2024)
All publications
Articles
- White matter integrity upon progesterone antagonism in individuals with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (2025)
- Mid-pregnancy allopregnanolone levels and trajectories of perinatal depressive symptoms (2024)
- Cortical morphology variations during the menstrual cycle in individuals with and without premenstrual dysphoric disorder (2024)
- Electroencephalography findings in menstrually-related mood disorders (2024)
- White matter volume and treatment with selective progesterone receptor modulator in patients with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (2024)
- Modeling brain sex in the limbic system as phenotype for female-prevalent mental disorders (2024)
- Peripartum depression symptom trajectories, telomere length and genotype, and adverse childhood experiences (2024)
- Acute nicotine exposure blocks aromatase in the limbic brain of healthy women (2023)
- Sex differences in distribution and identity of aromatase gene expressing cells in the young adult rat brain (2023)
- Editorial (2023)
- Emotion-induced brain activation across the menstrual cycle in individuals with premenstrual dysphoric disorder and associations to serum levels of progesterone-derived neurosteroids (2023)
- New Pharmacological Approaches to the Management of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (2023)
- Vesicular glutamate transporter 2 expression in the ventral tegmental area of outbred male rats following exposure to nicotine and alcohol (2023)
- Differential grey matter structure in women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (2022)
- Grey matter correlates of affective and somatic symptoms of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (2022)
- White matter microstructure and volume correlates of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (2022)
- Grey matter morphology in women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder treated with a selective progesterone receptor modulator. (2022)
- Maternal prenatal depressive symptoms and toddler behavior (2022)
- Prevalence and correlates of current suicidal ideation in women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (2022)
- Association of levonorgestrel intrauterine devices with stress reactivity, mental health, quality of life and sexual functioning (2021)
- Ulipristal Acetate for Treatment of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (2021)
- Neuroimaging the menstrual cycle (2021)
- Brain reactivity during aggressive response in women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder treated with a selective progesterone receptor modulator (2021)
- DNA methylation in cord blood in association with prenatal depressive symptoms (2021)
- DNA methylation of Vesicular Glutamate Transporters in the mesocorticolimbic brain following early-life stress and adult ethanol exposure-an explorative study (2021)
- Monoamine oxidase A genotype and methylation moderate the association of maltreatment and aggressive behaviour (2020)
- Neuroimaging premenstrual dysphoric disorder (2020)
- Quantification of aromatase binding in the female human brain using [11 C]cetrozole positron emission tomography. (2020)
- Handling ties in continuous outcomes for confounder adjustment with rank-ordered logit and its application to ordinal outcomes. (2020)
- Progesterone - Friend or foe? (2020)
- Early life stress and voluntary alcohol consumption in relation to Maoa methylation in male rats. (2019)
- Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis responsiveness, startle response, and sensorimotor gating in late pregnancy (2019)
- Constitutive serotonin transporter reduction resembles maternal separation with regard to stress-related gene expression (2019)
- Association between Transcription Factor AP-2B genotype, obesity, insulin resistance and dietary intake in a longitudinal birth cohort study (2019)
- Stress-related genetic polymorphisms in association with peripartum depression symptoms and stress hormones (2019)
- Negative Association Between Allopregnanolone and Cerebral Serotonin Transporter Binding in Healthy Women of Fertile Age (2019)
- VGLUT2 rs2290045 genotype moderates environmental sensitivity to alcohol-related problems in three samples of youths (2019)
- Maltreatment, the Oxytocin Receptor Gene, and Conduct Problems Among Male and Female Teenagers (2018)
- Associations Between MAOA-uVNTR Genotype, Maltreatment, MAOA Methylation, and Alcohol Consumption in Young Adult Males (2018)
- Associations of monoamine oxidase A gene first exon methylation with sexual abuse and current depression in women (2018)
- Neurological and neuropsychological effects of low and moderate prenatal alcohol exposure (2018)
- Gene-environment interaction of monoamine oxidase A in relation to antisocial behaviour (2018)
- Differential susceptibility effects of oxytocin gene (OXT) polymorphisms and perceived parenting on social anxiety among adolescents (2018)
- Personality as an intermediate phenotype for genetic dissection of alcohol use disorder. (2018)
- A Biopsychosocial Approach to Risk and Resilience on Behavior in Children Followed from Birth to Age 12 (2017)
- Maoa Methylation (2017)
- Emotional anticipation after delivery - a longitudinal neuroimaging study of the postpartum period (2017)
- The expression of opioid genes in non-classical reward areas depends on early life conditions and ethanol intake (2017)
- Allopregnanolone levels and depressive symptoms during pregnancy in relation to single nucleotide polymorphisms in the allopregnanolone synthesis pathway (2017)
- Associations between a polymorphism in the hydroxysteroid (11-beta) dehydrogenase 1 gene, neuroticism and postpartum depression (2017)
- Tracer kinetic analysis of [C-11] Cetrozole as a PET tracer for aromatase in the human brain (2017)
- Maternal and female fetal testosterone levels are associated with maternal age and gestational weight gain (2017)
- Evidence for a Link Between Fkbp5/FKBP5, Early Life Social Relations and Alcohol Drinking in Young Adult Rats and Humans (2017)
- Interaction between oxytocin gene variants and perceived parenting in relation to social anxiety in adolescents (2017)
- COMT genotype and non-recovery after a whiplash injury in a Northern European population (2017)
- Sex differences in depression during pregnancy and the postpartum period (2017)
- Ethanol affects limbic and striatal presynaptic glutamatergic and DNA methylation gene expression in outbred rats exposed to early-life stress (2017)
- Vgluts In The Mesocorticolimbic Brain Of Adolescent Outbred Rats Exposed To Alcohol And Nicotine (2017)
- Early predictors of behavioural problems in pre-schoolers (2016)
- Sleep duration, depression, and oxytocinergic genotype influence prepulse inhibition of the startle reflex in postpartum women (2016)
- Genetic and Functional Study of L-Type Amino Acid Transporter 1 in Schizophrenia (2016)
- Mid-pregnancy corticotropin-releasing hormone levels in association with postpartum depressive symptoms (2016)
- Associations between the FKBP5 haplotype, exposure to violence and anxiety in females (2016)
- Gender transition affects neural correlates of empathy (2016)
- HPA Axis Gene Expression and DNA Methylation Profiles in Rats Exposed to Early Life Stress, Adult Voluntary Ethanol Drinking and Single Housing (2016)
- Physical and verbal aggressive behavior and COMT genotype (2016)
- Corticolimbic anatomical characteristics predetermine risk for chronic pain (2016)
- Behaviour problems in children-a longitudinal study of genetic and environmental factors (2015)
- Early Life Stress and Voluntary Alcohol Consumption in Adulthood Affect Maoa Expression in the Nucleus Accumbens of Outbred Rats (2015)
- Effect of voluntary alcohol consumption on Maoa expression in the mesocorticolimbic brain of adult male rats previously exposed to prolonged maternal separation. (2015)
- Psychiatric Symptoms in Adolescents (2015)
- Supraphysiological hormonal status, anxiety disorders, and COMT Val/Val genotype are associated with reduced sensorimotor gating in women (2015)
- Pregnancy, anxiety symptoms and catecholaminergic genotype are associated with prepulse inhibition of the startle response in women (2015)
- Neuroimaging the Menstrual Cycle and Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (2015)
- Alpha 2a-Adrenoceptor Gene Expression and Early Life Stress-Mediated Propensity to Alcohol Drinking in Outbred Rats (2015)
- EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE OF A LINK BETWEEN THE alpha 2A-ADRENERGIC RECEPTOR GENE, EARLY LIFE STRESS, AND ETHANOL DRINKING (2015)
- Treatment with serotonin reuptake inhibitors during pregnancy is associated with elevated corticotropin-releasing hormone levels (2015)
- Prenatal and Postpartum Evening Salivary Cortisol Levels in Association with Peripartum Depressive Symptoms (2015)
- Corticotropin-releasing hormone and postpartum depression (2015)
- Corticotropin-releasing hormone and postpartum depression (2015)
- Genotypes do not confer risk for delinquency but rather alter susceptibility to positive and negative environmental factors (2015)
- Expression of Stress and DNA Methylation Regulatory Genes in the Hypothalamus and Pituitary of Rats Exposed to Early Life Stress and Adult Voluntary Ethanol Drinking (2015)
- Personality as an Intermediate Phenotype for Genetic Dissection of Alcohol Use Disorder (2015)
- Ethanol Affects Limbic and Striatal Expression of Vesicular Glutamate Transporters in Outbred Rats Exposed to Early Life Stress (2015)
- Effect of early life stress and ethanol consumption on Pomc and Avp expression in rat hypothalamus (2014)
- Functional and molecular neuroimaging of menopause and hormone replacement therapy (2014)
- Emotional fronto-cingulate cortex activation and brain derived neurotrophic factor polymorphism in premenstrual dysphoric disorder (2014)
- Haplotype-tag single nucleotide polymorphism analysis of the Vesicular Glutamate Transporter (VGLUT) genes in severely alcoholic women (2014)
- Clinical and experimental evidence of a link between adrenergic genes, early life stress and alcohol-related phenotypes (2014)
- Gene-set-based expression and DNA methylation in hypothalamus and pituitary of rats exposed to early life stress and ethanol drinking (2014)
- The Effects Of Early Environment And Adult Voluntary Drinking On Pomc Gene Expression In Rats (2014)
- Mitigating aggressiveness through education? (2014)
- Transcription Factor Activating Protein-2β (TFAP-2β) genotype and symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in relation to symptoms of depression in two independent samples (2014)
- Neurobiological and behavioural studies on early life stress and adolescent alcohol drinking in a translational initiative (2014)
- Early Life Stress Causes Long Term Effects On Neuropeptides, Alcohol Consumption And Behaviour (2014)
- Emotional and cognitive functional imaging of estrogen and progesterone effects in the female human brain (2014)
- Effect of gene, environment and maternal depressive symptoms on pre-adolescence behavior problems (2013)
- Influence of catechol-O-methyltransferase Val158Met polymorphism on startle response in the presence of high estradiol levels (2013)
- Adipocytokines levels at delivery, functional variation of TFAP2 beta, and maternal and neonatal anthropometric parameters (2013)
- Three-way interaction effect of 5-HTTLPR, BDNF Val66Met, and childhood adversity on depression (2013)
- Neuropsychiatric deep brain stimulation for translational neuroimaging (2013)
- Epistatic Effects of Bdnf, 5Httlpr and Maoa in Interaction with Environmental Adversity on Adolescent Criminality (2013)
- Effect Of Early Life Stress And Ethanol Consumption On Pomc In Rat Hypothalamus (2013)
- Serotonin transporter genotype by environment (2013)
- Self-Reported Family Socioeconomic Status, the 5-HTTLPR Genotype, and Delinquent Behavior in a Community-Based Adolescent Population (2013)
- The effect of premenstrual dysphoric disorder and menstrual cycle phase on brain activity during response inhibition (2012)
- Alcohol Consumption Among Pregnant Women in a Swedish Sample and Its Effects on the Newborn Outcomes (2012)
- Influence of COMT val158met polymorphism on startle response during pregnancy (2012)
- Haplotype tag single-nucleotide polymorphism analysis of the vesicular glutamate transporter 2 gene in severe alcoholism among women (2012)
- MAOA VNTR genotype, psychiatric vulnerability and life course in a population-representative longitudinal study (2012)
- Biological aspects of postpartum depression (2012)
- Postpartum depressive symptoms and the BDNF Val66Met functional polymorphism: effect of season of delivery (2011)
- Postpartum depression symptoms (2011)
- MAOA genotype, family relations and sexual abuse in relation to adolescent alcohol consumption (2011)
- Maltreatment, MAOA, and delinquency (2011)
- Why Do Adolescents Drink? (2010)
- The clock gene PER2 and sleep problems (2010)
- Neuroticism-related personality traits are related to symptom severity in patients with premenstrual dysphoric disorder and to the serotonin transporter gene-linked polymorphism 5-HTTPLPR (2010)
- Adolescent alcohol consumption (2009)
- Personality and the serotonin transporter gene (2009)
- The Transcription Factor TFAP2B Is Associated With Insulin Resistance and Adiposity in Healthy Adolescents (2009)
- Transcription factor AP2 beta involved in severe female alcoholism (2009)
- Impact of the interaction between the 5HTTLPR polymorphism and maltreatment on adolescent depression. (2009)
- Selective progesterone receptor modulation and brain activity at rest in patients with premenstrual dysphoric disorder
- Vglut2 gene expression in limbic brain areas of outbred rats following exposure to nicotine and ethanol
- DNA methylation of Vesicular Glutamate Transporters in the mesocorticolimbic brain following early life stress and ethanol exposure in adulthood
Books
Conferences
- Mental health trajectories and dimensional phenotypes throughout pregnancy and postpartum in relation to pre-pregnancy premenstrual symptoms (2024)
- Premenstrual symptoms and depression during pregnancy and postpartum in two large cohorts of pregnant women (2023)
- Exploring the relationship between early life adversity, telomere length and peripartum depression (2022)
- VGLUT2 genotype interacts with environmental experiences to predict alcohol misuse in young adults (2016)
