My research concerns mechanisms controlling the perinatal sexual differentiation and adult activation of neural circuits that control courtship behaviors in mice. I am especially interested in studying the interaction between the main and accessory olfactory nervous systems in the control of mate recognition and sexual motivation in mice of both sexes. 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 appetitive and consummatory mating behaviors as well as operant methods for assessing animals’ ability to detect pheromones as well as their sexual partner preferences; brain infusions of neurotoxins, tract tracers and neuropeptides to study the olfactory mechanisms controlling sociosexual behaviors; and new optogenetic as well as DREADD methods for selectively activating or silencing main vs accessory bulb neurons thought to convey pheromonal information to the forebrain.<\/p>\n