Puberty is characterized by extensive hormonal and behavioral development. In particular, puberty is marked in mammals by a maturation of social behavior from play fighting to adult aggression. Surprisingly, the neural and endocrine mechanisms underlying this transition are not well understood. Increasing production of sex hormones is not involved in this behavioral development. It is hypothesized that increasing levels of stress hormones during puberty control the development of social and aggressive behavior. This hypothesis will be addressed under two objectives in the proposed project. The first objective studies the development of stress responses and increasing production of stress hormones across puberty through neuroendocrine methods. The second objective tests the effects of manipulating stress hormone levels and activating specific stress hormone receptors on behavioral development during puberty. These studies will be conducted with golden hamsters as a model system. However, these studies are also applicable to other species showing increased production of stress hormones during puberty, such as humans or tree shrews. As an intellectual impact, these experiments will help determining the neural mechanisms underlying effects of stress and stress hormones on the development of social and aggressive behavior during puberty. As a broader impact, these studies will provide opportunities to scientific training of undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Texas, including persons from under-represented minorities.
