Katharine Northcutt

Faculty Advisor: Dr. J. Lonstein
Entered Program in Fall 2005

 northcu2@msu.edu

Student Background/Interests

I graduated from Emory University in 2005 with a B.S. in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology. While at Emory I worked in Dr. Kim Wallen's lab investigating the effects of a synthetic progestin (Medroxyprogesterone acetate) on sexual behavior and progesterone receptor expression in female rats.

I am primarily interested in the organizational and activational effects of steroid hormones, and species differences in the mechanisms used to create sex differences in the brain and behavior. I am currently investigating the contributions of two groups of dopamine cells in the medial amygdala and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in prairie vole sociosexual behavior. I am also interested in the differences in neonatal hormone actions between prairie voles and other rodents.

In my free time I enjoy playing and watching sports, juggling, and traveling.

Selected Publications

Morris, JA, Jordan, CL, King, ZA, Northcutt, KV, and Breedlove, SM. Sexual dimorphism and steroid responsiveness of the posterodorsal medial amygdala in adult mice. Brain Research, 2007, in press.

Northcutt, KV, Wang, Z, and Lonstein, JS. Sex and species differences in tyrosine hydroxylase-synthesizing cells of the rodent olfactory extended amygdala. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 2007, 500(1): 103-115.

Pazol, K, Northcutt, KV, Wilson, ME, and Wallen, K. Medroxyprogesterone acetate acutely facilitates and sequentially inhibits sexual behavior in female rats. Hormones and Behavior, 2006, 49(1): 105-13.

Presentations

Northcutt, KV and Lonstein, JS (2007) Neonatal aromatase inhibition affects adult copulatory behaviors and periventricular dopamine systems in prairie voles. Society for Neuroscience, November 3–7, San Diego, CA.

Northcutt, KV and Lonstein, JS (2007) Effects of neonatal aromatase inhibition on masculine and feminine sexual behavior in prairie voles. Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, June 21–24, Pacific Grove, CA.

Northcutt, KV, Wang, Z, and Lonstein, JS (2006). A previously undiscovered sex difference in dopaminergic cells in the medial amygdala and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis of prairie voles is regulated by adult gonadal hormones. Society for Neuroscience, October 14–18, Atlanta, GA.