Week 9. Oct. 28th
Guest Seminar Nate Sawtell
Nate will give a "hard core" neuroscience lecture. Be prepared
to stop him and ask questions. He will be presenting current research
regarding neural function using as a model organism one of the electric
fish that you will be working with in lab this week.
READ:
re-read the Nishikawa article, focusing on electric fish. and if you
have time try Rose et al.
Nishikawa, K.C. (2002) Evolutinary
Convergence in Nervous Systems: Insights from Comparative Phylogenetic
Studies. Brain Behav Evol 59:240-249.
(warning: this one may open only in acrobat)
Rose (2004) Insights
into Neural Mechanisms and Evolution of Behavior From Electric Fish. Nature
Reviews Neuroscience 5:943-951.
Week 9 - Oct. 30th
Behavioral Endocrinology
With the ability to synthesize artificial hormones in the 1930s researchers
gained increased ability to manipulate hormone titers. Beach and Holz-Tucker's
paper was an essential contribution to our understanding of the effects
of these hormones on behavior. Pay attention to the detailed description
of their methods. This paper raises interesting questions about hormones
as a possible source of individuual differences in sexual behavior. These
questions are still largely unanswered today. The paper by Lehrman, presents
a very nice study that has not gained as much popularity as some think
that it should. He demonstrated that behaviors (in this case parental
behavior) is not reflexive and rigidly controlled by hormones but that
it is flexible and responds to social interactions. Wingfield brings
together much historic work when he built his theory known now as "the
challenge hypothesis". In class we will look at several recent tests
of the challenge hypothesis.
READ:
Beach, F.A.,
and Hoz-Tucker, A.M. (1949) Effects of different concentration
of androgen upon sexual behavior in castrated male rats. Journal
of Comp. & Physiol Psychol. 42:433-453.
(also in Foundations of Animal Behavior)
Lehrman (1965) Interaction between internal and external environmnets
in the regulation of the reproductive cycle of the ring dove. In Sex
and Behavior, F.A. Beach, ed. (also in Fundamentals of Animal
Behavior)
This one is really not that long, but it
was presented at a meeting and the last several pages are notes from
a discussion among several ethologists of the time.
Consider how this paper describes behaviors differently than the theory
of Fixed Action Patterns.
Wingfield, J.C.,
Hegner, R.E., Dufty, A.M. and Ball, G.F. (1990) The "Challenge
Hypothesis": Theoretical Implications for Patterns of Testosterone
Secretion, Mating Systems, and Breeding Strategie. The American Naturalist,
136:829-846.
Sapolsky R.M. (1990) Stress
in the Wild. Scientific American c?:116-123
I wish I had time to cover everything, we would read this as well. Robert
Sapolsky is an outstanding research who studies the endorinology of
stress. He works at all levels from baboon tribes in the wild to cell
culture in the lab, and humans in clinics. He also writes for a general
audience.
I would recommend "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers".
or
Sapolsky, R.M., (2004) Social
Status and Health in Humans and other animals. Ann. Rev. Anthropology 33:393-418.
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