KATHARINE NORTHCUTT
Mercer Biology
B.S., Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology, Emory University
Ph.D., Neuroscience, Michigan State University
Degrees and Advanced Study
Dr Katharine Northcutt, Assistant Professor
Joined Mercer 2010
office WSC 213
phone 478.301.2348
fax 478.301.2067
email northcutt_kv@mercer.edu
Neurobiology
BIO 212 Introductory Biology II
Courses Taught
Neurobiology
Specialties
Dr. Northcutt’s main research interests are the neurobiology and neuroendocrinology of social behavior. She is particularly interested in neurochemical systems that influence the social interactions of juveniles (particularly play behavior in rats), and the ways that these systems change throughout adolescence, resulting in a decrease in affiliative behavior in adults. Juvenile males of most species play more than females, and I also plan to explore the neural underpinnings of this sex difference, and investigate the effects of hormones during development on these neural networks.
Research Interests
Northcutt KV, Lonstein JS. (2009) Social contact elicits immediate-early gene expression in dopaminergic cells of the male prairie vole extended olfactory amygdala. Neuroscience 163:9-22.
Pazol K, Northcutt KV, Patisaul HB, Wallen K, Wilson ME. (2009) Progesterone and medroxyprogesterone acetate differentially regulate α4 subunit expression of GABAA receptors in the CA1 hippocampus of female rats. Physiology and Behavior 97:58-61.
Northcutt KV, Lonstein JS. (2008) Sex differences and effects of neonatal aromatase inhibition on masculine and feminine copulatory potentials in prairie voles. Hormones and Behavior 54(1):160-169.
Morris JA, Jordan CL, King ZA, Northcutt KV, Breedlove SM. (2008) Sexual dimorphism and steroid responsiveness of the posterodorsal medial amygdala in adult mice. Brain Research 1190:115-121.
Northcutt KV, Wang Z, Lonstein JS. (2007) Sex and species differences in tyrosine hydroxylase-synthesizing cells of the rodent olfactory extended amygdala. Journal of Comparative Neurology 500(1):103-115.
Publications
