Steroid hormones have a major impact on the behavior of mammals. Most of the behavioral effects of steroid hormones are thought to be mediated by the central nervous system; however, very little is known about the underlying mechanisms. Dr. Albers, who has previously received support from the National Science Foundation, will continue to work on steroid-peptide-transmitter interactions, a general problem of substantial interest in neurobiology. Sophisticated anatomical and biochemical techniques are used to examine scent marking, a functionally significant communicative behavior that is also sexually dimorphic. As a model system, scent marking is interesting because of the involvement of a neuropeptide, arginine- vasopressin in its control. Dr. Albers will determine whether steroid hormones influence scent marking by diminishing the sensitivity of a specific area in the brain to vasopressin. He will also investigate the role of vasopressin in regulating the sex differences in scent marking. A carefully designed set of pharmacological studies will examine how the noradrenergic transmitter system is involved in coordinating the expression of this communication behavior as well as with other behaviors. These studies will make important contributions to our understanding of how endocrine signals act on neural systems to control behavior.
