Social and physical context: it matters for behavior, hormones and the brain

19 Feb 2021

Catherine Marler
Departments of Psychology and Integrative Biology
University of Wisconsin-Madison

zoom recording

Abstract

The importance of context for understanding the meaning of hormonal signals within the body frequently has been ignored. Both the production of testosterone and oxytocin and effects on behavior are highly dependent on both the internal and external environments of individuals. The internal environment is shaped by social experience and the external environment includes a sampling of the social environment and an awareness of the physical environment. I will describe findings from my lab with the monogamous California mouse, Peromyscus californicus, that help us to make sense of the many stimuli that a biparental and territorial species needs to integrate in order to adapt to a dynamic environment through studies conducted in both the laboratory and the field and ranging from behavioral to neurobiological studies.

current theory lunch schedule