title: The neuroendocrine action potential. Winner of the 2008 Frank Beach Award in Behavioral Neuroendocrinology.
abstract: Animals are remarkably well equipped to respond to changes in their environment across different time scales and levels of biological organization. Here, I introduce a novel perspective that incorporates the three main processes the nervous system uses to integrate and process information: electrophysiological, genomic, and neuroendocrine action potentials. After discussing several examples of neuroendocrine action potentials, I lay out the commonalities of these temporally organized responses and how they might be interrelated with electrophysiological activity and genomic responses. This framework provides a novel outlook on longstanding questions in behavioral neuroendocrinology and suggests exciting new avenues for further research that will integrate across disciplines and levels of biological organization.
authors.affiliation: Section of Integrative Biology, Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Institute for Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA. hans@mail.utexas.edu
authors.forename: Hans A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Hofmann
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001363:Awards and Prizes; D001519:Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008322:Mammals / Q000502:physiology; D009452:Neuroendocrinology; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology; D009490:Neurosecretory Systems / Q000502:physiology*; D012621:Seasons