Mary Jane Skelly

This study shows that high estrogen levels during the proestrus phase increase binge drinking in female mice via rapid nongenomic signaling at estrogen receptor alpha in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis.

This study identifies two parallel circuits from the paraventricular thalamus to the nucleus accumbens that encode valence and salience with sex-dependent differences.

This study identifies a sex-dependent glutamatergic circuit from the paraventricular thalamus to BNST CRF neurons that modulates binge drinking and avoidance behavior.

This study shows that adolescent social isolation in mice leads to hypersocial and female-specific anxiolytic behaviors, while adult social isolation only increases anxiety in the light/dark box.

The paper identifies epigenetically bistable regions in neuronal genes that influence neuronal eligibility for coding ensembles in the hippocampus, showing their role in spatial memory and excitability.