A functional role for progesterone and its receptor in female behavior and physiology is fairly well established; however, the data on progesterone and progestin receptor (PR) function in males are relatively sparse. Although there are only a few studies examining the action of progesterone in males, the results confirm an exciting yet understudied role for progesterone and/or the progestin receptor in adult male behavior and physiology. The goal of this project is to test the hypothesis that progesterone impairs social behavior, specifically social memory/recognition and recently collected preliminary data strongly support this hypothesis in a male rodent model. This research is valuable as it will develop a framework for understanding the role that progesterone plays in influencing social behavior (i.e., social recognition) in males, and provide new molecular targets, such as the underlying steroid /neuropeptide interactions and epigenetic mechanisms, for understanding how social recognition is regulated. These studies will also aid in the understanding of which neural pathways in the brain become compromised in some disease states in which one?s ability to socially recognize other individuals is impaired. The current project will also provide a valuable opportunity for education and dissemination of knowledge. The training provided is designed to give back to the community by engaging students from elementary to graduate school, as well as increase participation of women and students from underrepresented backgrounds in all aspects of experimental science. The data and techniques used to gain these data will be shared with the scientific community, as well as disseminated to the public.
