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James W. Pennebaker, Chairman | SEA 4.212 | The University of Texas at Austin | Austin, TX 78712 | 512-471-1157 |
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Walter Wilczynski, Ph.D.
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VITAEmail: wilczynski@psy.utexas.edu
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Research in my laboratory is in the area of Neuroethology, the study of the neural basis of natural behavior. My laboratory focuses on the neural systems underlying animal communication and reproductive behavior, and has a particular interest in the interaction of the sensory and hormonal systems that mediate these behaviors. Using amphibians and reptiles as model systems, we use a multidisciplinary approach to investigating the interactions of communication signals, behavioral interactions, and hormonal state via combinations of neuroanatomical, neuroendocrinological, neurophysiological, and behavioral techniques. Several programs of research are underway. One such program investigates the role of various neurochemical systems in the brain, particularly neuropeptides and monoamine neurotransmitters and their interactions with sex steroid hormones, in controlling reproduction, and aggression, and social behavior. This project also investigates the plasticity in these systems by examining how both sex steroid hormones and behavioral interactions modify these systems and how that modification in turn leads to differences in behavior or physiological regulation. A second area of research investigates the coevolution of signal production and sensory systems by examining sex differences, geographic differences within a species, and species differences in communication behavior, the mechanisms of signal production, and the properties of sensory systems that process those signals.
Burmeister, S., C. Somes, & W. Wilczynski. (2001) Behavioral and hormonal consequences of exogenous vasotocin and corticosterone in the green treefrog. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol., 122: 189-197.
Burmeister, S., & W. Wilczynski (2000). Social signals influence hormones independently of calling behavior in the treefrog (Hyla cinerea). Horm. Behav., 38: 201-209.
Sun, L.-X., W. Wilczynski, A. S. Rand, & M. J. Ryan (2000). Trade-off in short- and long-distance communication in tungara (Physalaemus pustulosus) and cricket (Acris crepitans) frogs. Behav. Ecol., 11: 102-109.
Wilczynski, W., A.S. Rand, & M.J. Ryan (1999). Female preferences for temporal order of call components in the tungara frog: A Bayesian analysis. Anim. Behav., 58: 841-851.
Marler, C.A., S.K. Boyd, & W. Wilczynski (1999). Forebrain neuropeptide correlates of alternative male mating strategies. Horm. Behav., 36: 53-61.
Burmeister, S., W. Wilczynski, & M. J. Ryan (1999). Temporal call changes and prior experience affect graded signaling in the cricket frog. Anim. Behav., 57: 611-618.
Chu, J., C. A. Marler, & W. Wilczynski (1998). The effects of arginine vasotocin on the calling behavior of male cricket frogs in changing social contexts. Horm. Behav., 34: 248-261.
Wilczynski, W., J. D. Allison, and C. A. Marler (1993). Sensory pathways linking social and environmental cues to endocrine control regions of the amphibian forebrain. Brain Behav. Evol, 42:252-264.
Wilczynski, W., B. E. McClelland, and A. S. Rand (1993). Acoustic, auditory, and mophological divergence in three species of neotropical frog. J. Comp. Physiol., 172:425-438.
Ryan, M. J., J. H. Fox, W. Wilczynski, and A. S. Rand (1990). Sexual selection for sensory exploitation in the frog Physalaemus pustulosus. Nature, 343:66-67.
