RUI: Rapid Effects of Sex Steroids on Visual Processes Related to Social Communication

Bowdoin College, Brunswick ME

Investigators

Abstract

Steroid hormones exert profound effects on social behavior, but those effects are typically slow because steroids activate molecules that turn genes on and off, and changes in gene activity take a long time to produce effects on behavior. However, it has recently been shown that steroids can also affect behavior through more rapid mechanisms that do not depend on interactions with genes. Thompson will test the hypothesis that two sex steroids, testosterone and estradiol, affect reproductive behavior in male goldfish by rapidly changing how goldfish see the world, particularly female sexual stimuli. The proposal outlines a series of behavioral, electrophysiological, and neuroanatomical experiments that will also determine the kinds of molecules in the brain that these steroid hormones act upon to produce behavioral effects. Additionally, the project will identify where within the brain hormones produce those effects. Together, these experiments will increase our understanding of the fundamental cellular mechanisms through which steroid hormones affect behavior, particularly those related to reproduction. The principal investigator will perform many experiments related to this grant in an upper level laboratory course at Bowdoin College, providing meaningful research experiences to undergraduate students. Dr. Thompson will also teach a summer neuroscience outreach program at Bowdoin College for teams of high school teachers and their students. This will be followed by his students setting up presentations in the classes of teachers who have participated.