Assistant Professor
Department of Biology
The University of Mississippi

Contact:
Office: 509 Shoemaker Hall
E-mail: lainyday@olemiss.edu
Telephone: (662) 915-5444

Research Interests:
My research is in the domain of neuroethology, the study of neural mechanisms underlying natural behaviors. My work has centered on understanding the evolution of parts of the brain that control spatial and motor learning (see CV link). I am currently examining the neural correlates of complex mating displays in birds and the neural and hormonal basis that may govern differences in displays with emphasis on the cerebellum – a brain region involved in motor learning. I am also examining what role the cerebellum plays in learning in avian species.

Current Questions

1. Does the avian cerebellum have specialized neural architecture in species that perform learned and unlearned mating displays?

2. In avian species, what forms of learning depend on an intact cerebellum?

3. In the avian cerebellum, do hormones influence normal functioning or the recovery of function after damage?

4. In the golden-collared manakin, a species with an acrobatic mating display, how do hormones control the display and are there specialized neural centers for the display?

collaborator: Dr. Barney Schlinger

Education:
BA, New College of Florida, Evolutionary Psychology (1992)
MA, University of Texas, Austin, Cognition and Perception (1994)
PhD. University of Texas, Austin, Behavioral Neuroscience (1999)
Postdoctoral Fellow, UC Santa Barbara, Dept. of Ecol., Evol. and Marine Biol. (2004)
Postdoctoral Fellow, UCLA, Dept. of Physiological Sciences (2006)

Selected Publications:

Day LB, Fusani L, Hernandez E, Billo, TJ, Sheldon, KS, Wise, PM, Schlinger BA. Testosterone and its effects on courtship in Golden-Collared Manakins (Manacus vitellinus): Seasonal, sex, and age differences. In Press Hormones and Behavior.

Fusani L, Day LB, Canoine V, Reinemann D, Hernandez E, Schlinger BA. Androgen and the elaborate courtship behavior of a tropical lekking bird. In Press Hormones and Behavior.

Endler, JA and Day LB. Ornament colour selection, visual contrast, and the shape of colour preference functions in great bowerbirds (Chlamydera nuchalis). In Press Animal Behavior.

Day LB, McBroom JT, Schlinger BA 2006. Testosterone increases display behaviors but does not stimulate growth of adult plumage in male golden-collared manakins (Manacus vitellinus). Hormones and Behavior, 49, 223-232.

Day LB, Westcott DA & Olster DH 2005. Evolution of bower complexity and cerebellum size in bowerbirds. Brain, Behavior and Evolution, 66, 62-72.

Day LB 2003. The importance of hippocampal-dependent non-spatial tasks in analyses of homology and homoplasy. Brain, Behavior and Evolution, 62, 96-107.

CV (.doc 51kb)