Biological Division

My students and I examine hormonal influences in neuronal structure in cognitive parts of the rat brain, such as the cerebral cortex, corpus callosum and hippocampus. Although we are interested in hormonal influences throughout the lifespan, our current emphasis is on two time periods: adolescence/puberty and aging. Current studies indicate that adolescence is a time of considerable neuron reorganization, and the hormones secreted during puberty are influencing some of the changes. We are also investigating the effects of alcohol exposure during adolescence interacts with puberty. In another line of research we are looking at the effects of replacement estrogen and progesterone on the course of neural and behavioral aging.

Representative Publications:

• Juraska, J. M. and M. J. Rubinow Hormones and memory. In Learning and Memory: A Comprehensive Reference (ed. J. Byrne) 3. Memory Systems (ed. H. Eichenbaum), Elsevier: London, in press, 2008.
• Yates, M.A., J.M. Juraska, Pubertal ovarian hormone exposure reduces the number of myelinated axons in the splenium of the rat corpus callosum, Experimental Neurology 209: 284-287, 2008.
• Markham, J. A. and J .M. Juraska Social recognition memory: Influence of age, sex, and ovarian hormonal status. Physiology and Behavior, 5: 881-888, 2007.
• Yates, M.A., J.A. Markham, S.E. Anderson, J.R. Morris and J.M. Juraska Regional variability in age-related loss of neurons from the primary visual cortex and medial prefrontal cortex of male and female rats, Brain Research. 1218:1-12, 2008.
• Markham, J. A., J. R. Morris and J. M. Juraska Neuron number decreases in the rat ventral, but not dorsal, medial prefrontal cortex between adolescence and adulthood. Neuroscience, 144: 961-968, 2007.

Classes Recently Taught:

• Comparative Development (Developmental Psychobiology): Psych 217
• Brain and Mind: Psych 210
• History and systems of the biology of behavior: Psych 593