Although it is known that androgenic hormones naturally impact multiple neuromuscular processes as well as motor-disease states in humans, these effects can be difficult to study because there are few "athletic" animal models. The Schlinger laboratory studies hormonal control of neuromuscular dynamics in a bird that has an extraordinarily complex physical courtship display. These birds express androgen receptors in brain and musculature in high amounts giving us the opportunity to understand how hormones enable complex physical behavior by actions on the brain and peripheral muscles. The specific goals of this project include use of electromyography to determine how hormones act on skeletal muscles to stimulate appropriate muscle contractions, the use of molecular techniques to address how hormones control expression of genes in skeletal muscles that adapt the muscles for contraction and lastly neuroanatomical tracing techniques to assess how the brain connects with androgen sensitive muscles. These studies will directly expand the understanding of hormone action on body-tissues and they stand to impact thinking about potential advantages and disadvantages to hormone therapies and/or hormone abuse. This research also serves as a unique training opportunity for young scientists, particularly those poorly represented in the physiological sciences.
