Behavioral rules and molecular bases for aggression

Why do animals fight? How is a winner determined? What decision rules do animals use during fights? What are the behavioral consequences of victory and defeat? What does the brain have to do with fighting prowess? How do hormones and neural circuitry respond after a fight?

These are the types of questions that penetrate my research on aggression and dominance in
animals. They are embedded in behavioral ecological theory but expand quite significantly
into the realms of endocrinology and neurobiology. I am particularly interested in the operational
rules that animals use to 'decide' when to fight, and when to flee from opponents. In addition, I
am interested in the 'economics' of social experience, i.e. how perceived fighting ability and/or the
perceived costs and benefits of contesting change after winning or losing. Further, I dedicate a
solid portion of lab work to understanding the neuroendocrine mechanisms underlying experience-
induced changes in behavior. Here, the focus lies on the hypothalamic-pituitary-interrenal axis (the
'stress'axis), which culminates in the release of the steroid hormone cortisol, and the manifold
interactions that this 'axis' has with other neuroendocrine factors, including the serotonergic
system, neuropeptide expression and synthesis, and sex steroid hormone levels.