Catherine J. Auger

 

 

Influence of Peptides and Steroid Hormones on Complex Behavior

E-mail: cauger@wisc.edu

Research Strengths: Behavior: Cognition and Emotion, Molecular Neuroscience, Neural Circuits

My research interests are centered upon how neuropeptide systems and steroid hormones interact within the brain to influence complex behavior. More specifically, a portion of my work focuses on how small physiological changes in serum progesterone levels, which can be increased by a number of environmental and social stimuli, can act upon cells within restricted brain regions to control anxiety-related and social behavior using male rats as a model. One neuropeptide system of particular interest is the vasopressin system, as this system is sexually dimorphic and highly responsive to steroids. The extrahypothalamic vasopressin cells are nearly 100 percent co-expressed with progesterone receptors, and progesterone treatment of male rats suppresses the expression of extrahypothalamic vasopressin in the brain. Based on these data, I am interested in trying to understand how progesterone influences various vasopressin-linked behaviors, such as social and anxiety-related behaviors, within the male rat brain. The techniques we use to examine these research questions range from protein analysis, gene expression assays, to behavioral analysis. The multi-tiered technical approach used in our lab to examine both behavior and physiology allows us to make meaningful hypothesis about behavioral outcomes.

Selected Publications:

• Auger, C.J., and R.J. Vanzo. 2006. Progesterone treatment of adult male rats suppresses arginine vasopressin expression in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and the centromedial amygdala. Journal of Neuroendocrinology 18: 187-94 [PDF]
• Auger, C.J., H.M. Jessen, and A.P. Auger. 2006. Microarray profiling of gene expression patterns in adult male rat brain following acute progesterone treatment. Brain Research 1067: 58-66 [PDF]
• Auger, C.J., and G.J. De Vries. 2002. Distribution and steroid responsiveness of progestin receptor immunoreactivity within vasopressin-immunoreactive cells in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and the centromedial amygdala of male and female rat brain. Journal of Neuroendocrinology 14:161-167