Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology and Behavior   Heather K. Caldwell, Ph.D.
Home Current Research People Publications Research Opportunities Funding		Research Interests My broad question is how do neuropeptides contribute to the neural regulation of behavior? Specifically, I am interested in the neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin, which are evolutionarily ancient neuropeptides that differ in only two amino acids.  I primarily use knockout models coupled with molecular techniques and behavioral studies to test my central hypotheses.  The laboratory currently has two focus areas: 1. The neuroendocrine regulation of social behavior Oxytocin and vasopressin have been consistently implicated in the regulation of social behavior (e.g. agonistic, social memory, affiliative behaviors) across species, and changes in either of these neurohormones, or their receptors, results in profound alterations in social behaviors.  We are currently trying to ascertain where in the brain these receptors are acting to affect aspects of social behavior.  We are also interested in how oxytocin during development may contribute to displays of social behaviors later in life. These studies will allow us to better understand how oxytocin and vasopressin contribute to the regulation or modulation of social behavior. Check out WKSU’s Exploradio Piece about our work: http://www.wksu.org/news/story/39857. 2. How do neuropeptides contribute to neuropsychiatric diseases? We are exploring the contributions of the oxytocin and vasopressin systems to sensorimotor gating and cognitive flexibility. From these studies we hope to characterize some of the contributions of oxytocin and vasopressin to human neuropsyhicatric disorders.