The Neurobiology Of Sex, Gender, And Parenting

MBB 2015 Distinguished Harvard Lecture

Catherine Dulac

We are very pleased to have Professor Catherine Dulac deliver the MBB 2015 Distinguished Harvard Lecture. Talk abstract: Social interactions are central to our lives, and the human brain is thought to be geared towards detecting, and reacting to social information. More generally social interactions are essential for animals to survive, reproduce, raise their young, and neuroscientists have long tried to decipher the unique characteristics of social recognition in humans and animals: what are the triggers to social behaviors such as mating, fighting, parenting? How is the specificity of behavioral responses generated according to the animal age and gender? Is the neural processing social information different from other type of sensory recognition? This lecture will describe our current understanding of the identity and function of neural circuits controlling instinctive social behaviors such as sexual and parenting behaviors, and how they differ according to gender. Professor Dulac will be introduced by Professor Jeffrey Macklis.