CISAB Speaker| Russell D. Fernald

C E N T E R F O R T H E I N T E G R A T I V E S T U D Y O F A N I M A L B E H A V I O R

S P E A K E R S E R I E S

Russell D. Fernald

Professor
Department of Psychology
Stanford University

Social Regulation of the Brain: Status, Sex and Size

Guest Lecture for Spring 2002 Graduate Seminar:
Learning & Evolution

ABSTRACT:
It is self evident that the brain controls behavior but can behavior also 'control' the brain? Recent evidence has revealed that social behavior can cause changes in certain brain structures of adult animals. Such alterations can be dramatic, reversible and are typically related to reproductive behavior. How does behavior sculpt the brain and how are these changes controlled? Our studies link molecular events with organismal behavior by using a model system in which social behaviors regulate reproduction. We have shown that a variety of neural and endocrine changes result from changes in social status. Surprisingly, we have also demonstrated that body growth rate is also regulated by social status and immediate social history. Discovering how social information is transduced into physiological processes via cellular and molecular changes presents a major challenge.

RELATED READING
© 2002 CISAB

Fernald, R.D. and S.A. White. 1999. Social control of brains: From behavior to genes. In: M.S. Gazzaniga (Ed.), The cognitive neurosciences, 2nd Edition (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press), pp. 1193-1208. (Full Text WORD Reprint)

Hofmann, H.A., M.E. Benson and R.D. Fernald. 1999. Social status regulates growth rate: Consequences for life-history strategies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 96:14171-14176. (Full Text PDF)

Hofmann, H.A. and R.D. Fernald. 2000. Social status controls somatostatin-neuron size and growth. Journal of Neuroscience 20:4740-4. (Full Text PDF)

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© 2002 CISAB