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Danielle Stolzenberg

Education

  • Ph.D., Behavioral Neuroscience, Boston College
  • B.S., Magna Cum Laude, Psychology, Stetson University

About

In addition to her academic appointment in the Department of Psychology, Danielle Stolzenberg is an affiliated faculty with the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience, which seeks to understand the function of the human brain in health and in illness. She also is a faculty member of the UC Davis Molecular, Cellular, Integrative Physiology Graduate Group; the UC Davis Biology, Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Graduate Group; and the UC Davis Neuroscience Graduate Group. Professor Stolzenberg serves as a member of a number of professional organizations, including the Society for Neuroscience and the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology. She also serves as an editor of Frontiers in Neurogenomics, and as a reviewer for the journals Psychopharmacology, Zoological Science, Endocrinology and Biological Psychiatry.  

Research Focus

The overall goal of Professor Stolzenberg’s research is to advance our understanding of the neurobiology of parental behavior. The question of how experiences that occur throughout the lifetime produce enduring effects on brain and behavior is a fundamental part of this research program. She focuses on motherhood as a significant experience gained in adulthood, which robustly affects brain and behavior. Her research suggests that the experience of becoming a mother results in a sustained sensitivity toward infants that is mediated by epigenetic mechanisms in the brain. Her laboratory uses behavioral, neuropharmacological and molecular techniques to explore the mechanisms by which infant interactions induce and sustain high levels of parental responding.

Selected Publications
  • Krubitzer, L., &  Stolzenberg, D. S. (2013). The evolutionary masquerade: genetic and epigenetic contributions to the neocortex. Current Opinion Neurobiology, 24, 157-165. 
  • Stolzenberg, D. S.,  Stevens, J. S., &  Rissman, E. F. (2012). Experience-facilitated improvements in pup retrieval; evidence for an epigenetic effect. Hormones & Behavior, 62, 128-135.
  • Stolzenberg, D. S.,  Grant, P. A., & Bekiranov, S. (2011). Epigenetic methodologies for behavioral scientists. Hormones & Behavior, 59, 407-416.
  • Stolzenberg, D. S., &  Numan, M. (2011). Hypothalamic interaction with the mesolimbic DA system in the control of the maternal and sexual behaviors in rats. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 35, 826-47.
  • Stolzenberg, D. S., &  Rissman, E. F. (2011). Oestrogen-independent, experience-induced maternal behaviour in female mice. Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 23, 345-354.

Teaching

Professor Stolzenberg teaches the following courses: PSC 125 Behavioral Genetics and Epigenetics, PSC 101 Introduction to Biological Psychology, PSC 290 Current Topics in Epigenetics, and PSC 290 Neurobiology of Parental Care.