Faculty Research Spotlight
Dr. Chaya Gopalan, associate professor of primary care and health systems nursing, is looking to solve the puzzle of sex differentiation of the brain. The sex of the brain is feminine by default, unless testosterone is secreted during a critical point in perinatal development. In rats, that critical period is four days prior to and four days after birth. In the absence of exposure to testosterone, a brain organized as feminine oversees development of sexual behavior in the female. By manipulating the time when testosterone is secreted, Gopalan is intent on uncovering exactly where these changes occur, what is involved, and how the subject is impacted. She will use a behavioral model to study spatial working memory and sexual motivation.
