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Hormones and Behavior, Tribute Thoughts

Dr. Julian Davidson
It's almost a decade after Dr. Julian Davidson's death and more than 40 years since I was one of several undergraduate assistants in his laboratory at Stanford University. He was known for his work "of rats and men" on testosterone affects on behavior. Jobs of mine included hand making the testosterone implants, as well as watching and tabulating rat copulating behavior. I think and talk about the implications of that work regularly. I was lecturing about the effects of estrogen on mood and memory and talking about the areas of the brain that most respond to estrogen, and then just the other day discussing how these effects might change learning before and after menopause with another researcher. Although I mostly think of his work, it's probably more impressive to see what others have to say about Dr. Davidson as a man. So when you think of hormones and behavior, or are mulling over that first book of his give a bit of a shout out to Dr. Davidson for his work, and being able to inspire us.

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