Kat’s manuscript on sex and seasonal differences in neural steroid sensitivity and aggression was recently published in Hormones and Behavior! In this study, she found that male and female hamsters show distinct changes in the expression of steroid-related genes in the medial preoptic area, anterior hypothalamus, and periaqueductal gray following treatment with short-day photoperiods or timed melatonin injections, despite both sexes showing increased aggression and similar gene expression patterns in the arcuate nucleus. These findings suggest that melatonin regulates seasonal variation in neural steroid sensitivity and aggressive behavior and support a growing body of evidence that different neuroendocrine responses underlie a similar behavioral phenotype in male and female hamsters.

A link for the manuscript can be found under the “Publications” page and can also be accessed here.