Mary Holder Conklin
Post Doctoral Associate Neuroscience- Education
B.S., 2004, Applied Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology (With High Honors)
Ph.D., 2011, Neuroscience, University of Maryland, Baltimore
Postdoctoral Research Associate, 2011-2014, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
- Specializations
Neuroendocrinology
Psychopharmacology
Behavioral Neuroscience
- Biography
Ever since demonstrating that a drug of abuse enhanced female sexual behavior, Dr. Holder has studied the mechanisms by which experiences affect the brain and behavior. This research interest has begun to include the programming effects of immune challenges in critical periods of vulnerability (e.g., fetal and pubertal development). While at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, she examined the effects of an endotoxin on the microglia, the immunoresponsive cells, in the pubertal and adults brains. Holder joined the deVries lab in 2014 to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanism underlying decreases in male social play behavior and vasopressin innervation following prenatal exposure to an endotoxin.
- Publications
M.K. Holder, S. S. Viechweg, J.A. Mong (2015). Methamphetamine-enhanced sexual motivation is dependent on dopamine and progesterone signaling in the medial amygdala. Hormones & Behavior. 67, 1-11.
M.K. Holder & J. D. Blaustein. (2014). Puberty and adolescence as a time of vulnerability to stressors that alter neurobehavioral processes. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology. 35(1), 89-110.
T. Blutstein, M.A. Castello, S. S. Veichweg, M. M.Hadjimarkou, J.A. McQuail, M. Holder, L.P.Thompson, & J.A. Mong (2013) Differential response of hippocampal neurons and astrocytes to nicotine and hypoxia in the fetal guinea pig. Neurotoxicity Research. 24(1), 80-93.
M.K. Holder & J. A. Mong. (2010). Methamphetamine enhances paced mating behavior and neuroplasticity in the medial amygdala. Hormones & Behavior. 58(3). 519-25.
M.K. Holder, M.M. Hadjimarkou, S.L. Zup, R. Benham, T. Blutstein, M.M. McCarthy, & J.A. Mong (2010). Methamphetamine facilitates female sexual behavior and enhances neuronal activation in the medial amygdala and ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 35(2). 197-208.
M.M. Hadjimarkou, R. Benham, J.M. Schwarz, M.K. Holder & J.A. Mong (2008). Estradiol suppresses rapid eye movement sleep and activation of sleep-active neurons in the ventrolateral preoptic area. European Journal of Neuroscience. 27(7). 1780-1792.