This is an application to provide the applicant released time from a heavy load of administrative and teaching duties so that she may further her research career. An award will allow her to devote more time to her federally-sponsored research on hormonal specificity and the activation of behavior and to obtain the additional training in modern biochemical techniques she needs to carry out this research. It will also provide time for additional behavioral research and to explore new areas for future research. Her plans for professional growth during the award period include the establishment of an independent biochemistry lab, continued collaboration with some of the pioneering researchers in behavioral endocrinology and biochemistry, continued research training of students and the addition of postdoctoral training, active participation in federal grant review, and attendance at specialized symposia. The primary goal of her research is to gain a better understanding of the physiological mechanisms underlying hormonal control of behavior. The behavioral actions of androgens such as testosterone appear to be mediated by the interaction of their estrogenic and androgenic metabolites. The major focus of the present research is to determine how these two classes of hormones interact within the brain to elicit such behaviors. Levels and turnover of four monoaminergic neurotransmitters, as well as levels of the enzymes responsible for the synthesis and degradation of a fifth neurotransmitter, acetylcholine, will be monitored in specific brain nuclei known to mediate behavior dependent on the combined actions of estrogens and androgens. Examining the responses of these neurotransmitter systems to treatment with androgens, estrogens, or combined treatment with both hormones should help us to understand how these two classes of hormones interact in the brain to modulate behavior. Interactions of the androgen and estrogen receptor systems in the same nuclei will also be examined. A second line of research investigates whether conversion of androgens to 5 -reduced metabolites is obligatory for the neutral activation of male behavior patterns. A third line of research investigates the importance of estrogenic metabolites in the bloodstream, their biological activity and binding to serum proteins, and examines whether social interactions affect the production rate of estrogenic metabolites from androgens.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Scientist Development Award - Research (K02)
Project #
5K02MH000591-04
Application #
3069992
Study Section
Research Scientist Development Review Committee (MHK)
Project Start
1985-09-01
Project End
1990-08-31
Budget Start
1988-09-01
Budget End
1989-08-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
1988
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Hunter College
Department
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
City
New York
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10021
Harding, C F; Barclay, S R; Waterman, S A (1998) Changes in catecholamine levels and turnover rates in hypothalamic, vocal control, and auditory nuclei in male zebra finches during development. J Neurobiol 34:329-46
Barclay, S R; Harding, C F; Waterman, S A (1996) Central DSP-4 treatment decreases norepinephrine levels and courtship behavior in male zebra finches. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 53:213-20
Barclay, S R; Harding, C F; Waterman, S A (1992) Correlations between catecholamine levels and sexual behavior in male zebra finches. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 41:195-201
Bohner, J; Harding, C F; Marler, P (1992) Androstenedione therapy reinstates normal, not supernormal, song structure in castrated adult male zebra finches. Horm Behav 26:136-42
Landsman, R E; Harding, C F; Moller, P et al. (1990) The effects of androgens and estrogen on the external morphology and electric organ discharge waveform of Gnathonemus petersii (Mormyridae, Teleostei). Horm Behav 24:532-53
Barclay, S R; Harding, C F (1990) Differential modulation of monoamine levels and turnover rates by estrogen and/or androgen in hypothalamic and vocal control nuclei of male zebra finches. Brain Res 523:251-62
Walters, M J; Harding, C F (1988) The effects of an aromatization inhibitor on the reproductive behavior of male zebra finches. Horm Behav 22:207-18
Walters, M J; McEwen, B S; Harding, C F (1988) Estrogen receptor levels in hypothalamic and vocal control nuclei in the male zebra finch. Brain Res 459:37-43
Barclay, S R; Harding, C F (1988) Androstenedione modulation of monoamine levels and turnover in hypothalamic and vocal control nuclei in the male zebra finch: steroid effects on brain monoamines. Brain Res 459:333-43
Harding, C F; Walters, M J; Collado, D et al. (1988) Hormonal specificity and activation of social behavior in male red-winged blackbirds. Horm Behav 22:402-18