Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons^™

Neurobiology Of Seasonal Life-History Transitions, Ashley Rae Lucas

Dissertations and Theses

Many animals exhibit seasonal changes in life-history stages, and these seasonal transitions are often accompanied by dramatic switches in behavior. While the neuroendocrine mechanisms that regulate such behavioral transitions are poorly understood, arginine vasotocin (AVT) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) are excellent candidates because they regulate reproductive and feeding behavior, respectively. In this study, I asked if seasonal changes in AVT and/or NPY are concomitant with spring migration away from the breeding grounds, as male and female red-sided garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis) are transitioning from reproductive to non-reproductive behavior during this time. To address this question, I collected …

Body Sensations: Neurobiology, Learning To Feel, And Sensory Teamwork, Gin Mccollum

Gin McCollum

No abstract provided.

Body Sensations: Neurobiology, Learning To Feel, And Sensory Teamwork, Gin Mccollum

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Most of us must learn to feel, as an artist learns to see in order to draw. All of the physiological processes of feeling and seeing can happen with no awareness at all, when the mind is wandering elsewhere. Essential to the learning process is awareness, prajna. With no awareness, we have unconscious sensations, not conscious perceptions.

The light striking the retina of the eye is the first step in seeing. A great deal more happens in the visual part of the cerebral cortex, at the back of the head, and along the pathways to it. The conscious experience of …