1) How are steroids made available in active forms to distinct neural circuits at appropriate periods of the animal's life?

2) How have some neural circuits, but not others, become sensitive to control by steroidal signalling molecules?

Experimental Approaches: We study birds in the lab and in the field to explore these questions, examining species that have evolved unique behavioral strategies to optimize their reproductive potential. Techniques regularly used by members of the laboratory include: biochemical assays of steroidogenic enzyme activity, steroidogenic enzyme mRNA expression via Northern blots, rtPCR/Southern blots, in situ hybridization, protein expression via immunocytochemistry, Western blots, neuroanatomical measures via light and fluorescence microscopy and image analysis, and steroid-autoradiography.

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