Meaghan Bychowski

E-mail: bychowski@wisc.edu

Research Project:

Compared to females, little is known about the effect of progesterone in the brain and on the behavior of males. It has been shown that progesterone treatment reduces vasopressin (AVP) in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) and medial amygdala (MeA) in males, which means that progesterone might affect AVP-linked behaviors like social recognition. If progesterone is influencing social recognition through the AVP system in the BST and MeA, it is probably via progestin receptors (PR) that are co-localized with AVP immunoreactive neurons. We found that progesterone treatment altered anogential investigation in the habituation-dishabituation paradigm and that this effect was blocked by pretreatment with the PR antagonist RU-486. I am interested in exploring the interactions between progesterone, PRs, vasopressin expression and social behaviors.

Abstracts and Publications:

• Bychowski, M.E., K.M. Olesen, and C.J. Auger. 2007. The effect of progesterone on some aspects of social recognition is blocked by RU-486 in male rats. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr.
• Olesen, K.M., M.E. Bychowski, C.J. Auger, and A.P. Auger. 2007. Increased maternal care influences the development of juvenile and adult sexually dimorphic behavior patterns in rats. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr.
• Forbes-Lorman, R.M., K.M. Olesen, M.E. Bychowski, A.P. Auger, and C.J. Auger. 2007. Neonatal RU-486 treatment alters adult sexual behavior but not juvenile social play behavior in rats. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr.
• Auger, C.J., M.E. Bychowski, R.M. Forbes-Lorman, R.J. Vanzo, and K.M. Olesen. 2007. Progestin receptor-mediated reduction of anxiety-like behavior in male rats. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr.