About this book series
It is a cliché to comment on the explosion of the scientific literature in recent decades. Most investigators focus on obtaining new data and communicating these data in specialized journals. The integration and interpretation of this new information has lagged behind the pursuit of experimental investigations. Novel studies are essential, but reviews are also important if a field is to remain healthy and advance in productive ways. This is an especially acute problem for interdisciplinary fields. Investigators may have specialized knowledge about only one aspect of a field and fail to appreciate the significance of their work for the entire enterprise. The goal of this series is to address this problem for the field of behavioral neuroendocrinology.
Books in this series will provide reviews of important and timely topics concerning how hormones influence brain functions, especially behavior. It has been known for many years that hormones have profound effects on behavior. However, it is also the case that behavioral and physical experiences of various sorts, processed by the central nervous system, can influence endocrine activity. Thus hormone-behavior relationships are one component of a complex interrelation among hormones, brain and behavior. Scientists interested in this field are drawn from diverse disciplines in the biological and behavioral sciences including endocrinology, neuroscience, anatomy, psychology, and ethology. In recent years a new generation of truly interdisciplinary studies has emerged in which investigators simultaneously manipulate circulating hormone concentrations in the blood, assess the neural site of action of these hormones and measure the behavioral consequences of hormonally induced changes in neural activity. The maturity of this field is reflected by the founding of the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology in 1996.
The aims of this series will be to highlight and integrate recent empirical advances in the field and discuss and analyze methodological challenges facing investigators working in this area. The clinical implications of this basic research for problems such as mood disorders, sexual dysfunction, violence and other behavioral problems will also be considered. Volumes will include books focussed on the neuroendocrine regulation of a particular behavior, a summary of the anatomical localization of hormone sensitive brain networks (e.g., localization of hormone receptors, metabolizing enzymes etc) and a consideration the cellular and molecular mechanisms mediating hormone action in the brain. This series is planned to produce two to four volumes a year. The books will be aimed at advanced graduate students as well as established investigators working in the fields of neuroscience, physiology and psychology with a particular emphasis on behavioral neuroscience, neuroethology and neuroendocrinology. Some books in the series will also be useful for upper division neuroscience and neu