This course will discuss hormonal influences on animal behavior. The relations between hormones, brain and behavior will be discussed in a variety of species - from humans to frogs and moths. We will discuss both the diversity in nature, as well as the common threads that govern interactions between hormones and behavior in all animals. Behaviors to be discussed include hormonal influences on sexual behavior, courtship behavior, parental behavior, aggression, learning and memory, thirst, feeding, cognitive functions, and stress responses.
Text: Behavioral Endocrinology by Becker, Breedlove & Crews (Eds.), MIT Press/Bradford Books, Cambridge, MA.
Prerequisite: Psych 330 - Intro to Biopsychology
Grades will be based on the results of 2 exams (70%), a written summary of a primary research article (8%), critiques of other student’s presentations (4%) and the grade you receive on a classroom presentation (18%). Grading will be 'straight scale':
99-100 A+ 88-89 B+ 78-79 C+ 60-70 D 98-93 A 83-87 B 73-77 C below 60 F 90-92 A- 80-82 B- 70-72 C-
If
you all get above 90, you will all get "A's".
EXAMS: The first exam will be short answers, in class. The second exam will be a take home exam, for which you will be expected to integrate information from the entire course.
ORAL
Presentations (18%) and CRITIQUES
(4%)
You will be teamed with 4-5
other individuals in the class to make an oral presentation during
class time. A list of the specific topics for presentation will be
available during the second week of classes. For the presentation
your team will read an important primary research article in the
field of Behavioral Endocrinology and then prepare an oral report and
a written summary for the class. This is something that I hope you
will work on throughout the semester ( I know I’m dreaming ).
For this reason, I will be assigning/matching teams up early in the
semester.
Article Summary
& Study Questions (8%)
On Thursday Oct. 7 each
of you will turn in a written summary of the research article
(this first assignment is to be done individually, not as a
team). This is worth 10% of your grade. First make sure to
put the name and complete title of the article on the top of the
page. The summary of the research article should describe WHY the
research was conducted (give some background information, why is the
question important, etc). It should describe the experimental
methods, groups that were tested, and how the results were evaluated
(Methods). Then, the RESULTS of the study should be summarized.
Finally, the implications of the results should be summarized. In
other words - why is this study important? What do the results mean
for our understanding of hormones and behavior? Conclude with a list
of 5 questions that you would ask a person to determine whether they
had read the article.
ORAL Presentations
(18%) and CRITIQUES (4%)
Your team will prepare
a 10 min presentation summarizing the research article that you all
read. You should use overheads to illustrate the main points of the
paper, figures, etc. Everyone must be involved in the presentation in
some way. You should also prepare a summary of your article, with
study questions, that is based on the feedback you got from the
summaries you turned in earlier. Same format as above, with study
questions. You need to bring copies of your summary to class to hand
out. If you get it to me by 4 pm on the day BEFORE your presentation,
I will make photocopies for you. Otherwise - it is your
responsibility to make copies for the entire class.
SCHEDULE DATE READING AND TOPIC
(this is an approximate schedule) 9 September Introduction to
course. - Naomi Nagaya, Ph.D. guest instructor 14 September Chapter 1. Review of
Neuroendocrine Systems 21September Chapter 2. Development
of Sexual Differentiation of the Brain and Behavior
28 September Chapter 3.
Neuroendocrinology of Sexual Behavior in the Female 5 October FILM: "The Fight to be
Male" 7 October ***********TURN IN YOUR ARTICLE
SUMMARY AND STUDY QUESTIONS (10% OF
GRADE)**************** 12 October Chapter 6 . Diversity
in Hormone-Behavior Relations in Reproductive Behaviors 19 October Chapter 8.
Hormone-Behavior Relations in Parental Behavior 26 October NO CLASS
(study!!!!) 28 October Exam #1 (Will cover
through Parental Behavior) 35% of grade 2 November Chapter 9. Hormones
and Aggressive Behavior. 9 November Chapter 10.
Neuroendocrinology of the Stress Response/
Neuroimmunology (cont) 16, 18, & 23 November Oral presentations (18%)
and Critiques (4%) 30 November Chapter 11. Learning
and Memory and Neuronal Plasticity 7 December Chapter 14. Hormonal
Regulation of Behavior: Insights from Invertebrate
Systems 9 December 2ND EXAM will be
a cumulative take home exam. It will be available at the end
of class on December 9th and will be on the Web site on
December 10. It is due in my office on Dec. 17 (you may
email your exam to me at jbbecker@umich.edu). 35% of
grade
(week of)
Chapter 4. Neuroendocrinology of Sexual Behavior in the
Male
Chapter 5. Hormonal Influences on Human Sexual
Behavior
Chapter 7. Hormonal Influences on Courtship
Behavior
Review
Chapter 10. Neuroendocrinology of the Stress Response/
Neuroimmunology
Chapter 11. Sex
Differences and Hormonal Influences on Extrapyramidal
Sensorimotor Function
Chapter 12. Sex Differences and Hormonal Influences on
Cognitive Function in Humans.
Chapter 15. Hormones and Ingestive Behaviors