baum@bu.edu

Neuroendocrinology Animal Behavior Endocrinology and Reproductive Biology

Professor of Biology
Ph.D. McGill University, 1970

Behavioral Neuroendocrinology

My research concerns the mechanisms controlling the sexual differentiation and adult display of   courtship behaviors in mice.  One project uses transgenic mice in which the Cyp-19 (aromatase) gene has been disabled to study the role of the sex hormone, estradiol, in the differentiation of female-typical aspects of courtship behavior, including olfactory responses to conspecifics.   Another project concerns the interaction between the main and accessory olfactory nervous systems in the control of mate recognition and sexual motivation in male and female mice.   Techniques that I use include brain immunocytochemistry to localize neuronal immediate-early gene products, steroid hormone receptors and several neuropeptides; in situ hybridization autoradiography to localize and quantify mRNAs for pheromone receptors in the vomeronasal organ; the quantitative analysis of sexual, scent marking, and maternal behaviors as well as operant methods for assessing animals' ability to detect pheromones as well as their sexual partner preferences; and brain infusions of neurotoxins, tract tracers and neuropeptides to study the olfactory mechanisms controlling sociosexual behaviors.

Current lab members:

Postdoctoral fellow:

Wayne Korzan

Graduate Students:

Kristine Martel
Cam Kang

Undergraduates:

Connie Huang
Sarah Elmiligy
Heather Lapp

Collaborators:

Dr. James Cherry, Dept. of Psychology, Boston University
Dr. Julie Bakker, Dept. of Biochemistry, University of Liege, Belgium

Martel, K.L. and Baum, M.J. Sexually dimorphic activation of the accessory, but not the main, olfactory bulb in mice by urinary volatiles.   European Journal of Neuroscience, 2007, 26, 463-475.

Robarts, D.W. and Baum, M.J. Ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus lesions disrupt olfactory mate recognition and receptivity in female ferrets.   Hormones and Behavior, 2007, 51: 104-113.

Alekseyenko, O.V., Waters, P., Zhou, H. and Baum, M.J.   Bilateral damage to the sexually dimorphic medial preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus of male ferrets causes a female-typical preference for and a hypothalamic Fos response to male body odors.   Physiology and Behavior, 2007, 90: 438-449.

Martel, K.L., Keller, M., Bakker, J. and Baum, M.J.   Comparison of urinary odor-induced glomerular activation in the main olfactory bulb of aromatase knock-out and wild type female mice.   Neuroscience Letters, 2007, 421: 101-105.

Keller, M., Douhard, Q., Baum, M.J., and Bakker, J.   Sexual experience does not compensate for the detrimental effects of zinc sulfate lesioning of the main olfactory epithelium on sexual behavior in male mice.   Chemical Senses, 2006, 31:753-762.

Baum, M.J.   Mammalian animal models of psychosexual differentiation:   When is 'translation' to the human situation possible? Hormones and Behavior, 2006, 50:579-588.

Pankevich, D.E., Cherry, J. A., and Baum, M.J.   Effect of vomeronasal organ removal from male mice on their preference for and neural Fos responses to female urinary odors.   Behavioral Neuroscience, 2006, 120:925-936.

Pierman, S.,   Tirelli, E. ,   Douhard, Q., Baum, M.J., and Bakker . J. Male aromatase knockout mice acquire a conditioned place preference for cocaine but not for contact with an estrous female.   Behavioral Brain Research, 2006, 174:64-69.

Alekseyenko, O.V., Baum, M.J., and Cherry, J.A. Sex and gonadal steroid modulation of pheromone receptor gene expression in the mouse vomeronasal organ. 2006. Neuroscience, 140:1349-1357.

Kang, N., Janes, A., Baum, M.J. and Cherry, J.A. 2006.   Sex difference in Fos induced by male urine in medial amygdala-projecting accessory olfactory bulb mitral cells of mice. Neuroscience Letters, 398:59-62.

Keller, M., Pierman, S., Douhard, Q., Baum, M.J. and Bakker, J. 2006. The vomeronasal organ is required for the expression of lordosis behaviour, but not sex discrimination in female mice. European Journal of Neuroscience, 23:521-530.

Wesson, D.W., Keller, M., Douhard, Q., Baum, M.J. and Bakker, J. 2006.   Enhanced urinary odor discrimination in female aromatase knockout (ArKO) mice.   Hormones and Behavior, 49:580-586.

Zhang, J.X., Soini, H.A., Bruce, K.E., Wiesler, D., Woodley, S.K., Baum, M.J. and   Novotny, M.V. 2005. Putative chemosignals of the ferret associated with individual and gender recognition.   Chemical Senses, 30:727-737.

Pankevich, D.E., Baum, M.J. and Cherry, J.A. 2004. Olfactory sex discrimination persists whereas the preference for urinary odorants from estrous females disappears in male mice after vomeronasal organ removal.   Journal of Neuroscience, 24:9451-9457

Woodley, S.K. and Baum, M.J. 2004. Differential activation of glomeruli in the ferret's main olfactory bulb by anal scent gland odours from males and females: An early step in mate identification. European Journal of Neuroscience.   20:1025-1032.

Pankevich, D.E., Baum, M.J. and Cherry, J.A. 2003. Effect of prenatal androgen receptor antagonist or aromatase inhibitor on the differentiation of neural Fos responses to estrous female pheromones in the rat accessory olfactory system. Neuroscience Letters , 345:13-16.

Lau, Y.E., Cherry, J.A., Baum, M.J. and Mani, S.K. 2003. Induction of Fos in the accessory olfactory system by male odors persists in female mice with a null mutation of the aromatase (cyp19) gene. Brain Research Bulletin, 60:143-150.

Ma, D., Allen, N.D., van Bergen, Y., Jones, C., Brennan, P.A., Baum, M.J. and Keverne, E.B. 2002. Selective ablation of olfactory receptor neurons without functional impairment of vomeronasal receptor neurons in OMP-ntr transgenic mice. European Journal of Neuroscience, 16:2317-2323.

Baum, M.J. and Keverne, E.B. 2002. Sex difference in attraction thresholds for volatile odors from male and estrous female mouse urine. Hormones and Behavior, 41:213-219.

Bakker, J., Woodley, S.K., Kelliher, K.R. and Baum, M.J. 2002. Sexually dimorphic activation of galanin neurons in the ferret's dorsomedial preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus after mating. Journal of Neuroendocrinology , 14:116-125.

Isles, A.R., Baum, M.J., Ma, D., Szeto, A., Keverne, E.B. and Allen, N.D. 2002. A possible role for imprinted genes in inbreeding avoidance and dispersal from the natal area in mice. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B, 269:665-670.

Kelliher, K.R. and Baum, M.J. 2002. Effect of sex steroids and coital experience on ferrets' preference for the smell, sight, and sound of other ferrets. Physiology and Behavior, 76:1-7.

Dominguez-Salazar, E., Portillo, W., Baum, M.J., Bakker, J., and Paredes, R.G. 2002. Effect of prenatal androgen receptor antagonist or aromatase inhibitor on the differentiation of neural Fos responses to estrous female pheromones in the rat accessory olfactory system. Physiology and Behavior, 75:337-346.

Wallen, K. and Baum, M.J. 2002. Masculinization and defeminization in altricial and precocial mammals: Comparative aspects of steroid hormone action. In: D.W. Pfaff, A.P. Arnold et al. (Eds.). Hormones, Brain and Behavior, Vol. 4. New York: Academic Press, 385-423.

Baum, M.J. Neuroendocrinology of sexual behavior in the male. In: J. Becker, M. Breedlove, D. Crews and M. McCarthy (Eds.), Behavioral Endocrinologv, 2nd edition, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2002, 153-203.

Chang, Y-M, Kelliher, K.R. and Baum, M.J. 2001. Maternal odours induce Fos in the main but not the accessory olfactory bulbs of neonatal male and female ferrets. Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 13:551-560.

Kelliher, K.R., Baum, M.J. and Meredith, M. 2001. The ferret's vomeronasal organ and accessory olfactory bulb: Effect of hormone manipulation in adult males and females. Anatomical Record, 263:280-288.

Kelliher, K.R. and Baum, M.J. 2001. Nares occlusion eliminates heterosexual partner selection without disrupting coitus in ferrets of both sexes. Journal of Neuroscience, 21:5832-5840.

Isles, A.R., Baum, M.J., Ma, D., Keverne, E.B. and Allen, N.D. 2001. Parent of origin effects on odour preference in mice. Nature, 409:783-784.

Questions and comments are always welcome.
Copyright © 1996, The Trustees of Boston University
This document was last modified on January 24, 2008.