McCobb, David Peter
David McCobb
I am interested in the cellular basis of behavior, and particularly in the role of intrinsic electrical excitability as defined by ion channels in shaping the functional properties of neuroendocrine cells. I am interested in modulation and regulation of ion channel expression by behavioral stress, and by steroid hormones, including sex steroids and stress steroids. I am interested more broadly in the ecological and evolutionary significance of plasticity, and heterogeneity in behavioral neuroendocrinology across age, sex, and species of animals.
research
research and scholarship focus
Our current focus is ion channels in adrenaline-secreting chromaffin cells and ACTH-secreting corticotropes of mice, the role of these channels in shaping the intrinsic excitability of the cells, and their functional modulation by steroid hormones on multiple timescales. We combine electrophysiological methods with RT-PCR measures of molecular expression of ion channels, ELISA measurement of hormone output, and behavioral experiments. We have an additional interest in the interaction between stress axis function and parental behavior of male and female mice.
research areas
- biomedical sciences | collaborative research area (CALS)
- biophysics | collaborative research area (CALS)
- cell biology | collaborative research area (CALS)
- computational biology | research concentration area (Engineering)
- genetics | collaborative research area (CALS)
- genomics | collaborative research area (CALS)
- molecular biology | collaborative research area (CALS)
- molecular genetics | collaborative research area (CALS)
- neuroscience | collaborative research area (CALS)
- proteomics | research concentration area (Engineering)
- psychology | collaborative research area (CALS)
- science and technology studies | collaborative research area (CALS)
- sustainable development | collaborative research area (CALS)
- zoology | collaborative research area (CALS)
submitted impact statement
- Integrative decision making in the pituitary: electrical excitability of corticotropes as a node of signal integration in stress responses. | 2007 Impact statement
- The impact of stress on electrophysiological function of the adrenal and pituitary glands | 2006 Impact statement
- Effects of stress on the intrinsic electrical excitability of the nervous system | 2005 Impact statement
affiliations
faculty appointment in
- Neurobiology and Behavior (BIO NB) | Cornell department
member of graduate field
- Neurobiology and Behavior | graduate field
other Cornell affiliations
- Program in Neuroscience | academic program office
teaching
teaching focus
I teach ?Molecular Neurophysiology?, a course encompassing the roles played by ion channels in any cells on the planet, depending largely on the interests of students, ranging from bacteria and plants to human brain or cardiac muscle. My instruction emphasizes active learning approaches, including self-directed research, student presentation, and discussion. I also teach ?Molecules of Social Behavior and Emotion?, encompassing courtship and mating, parental behavior, cooperative, affiliative, and aggressive behavior, and emotion, including human happiness, depression, autism, and antisocial behavior.|During spring `07 I helped Tom Eisner and Mary Lou Zeeman teach BioNB 321: STate of the Planet, and was the official instructor for the corrsponding graduate section of the course. I lectured in the course,My role in the course has expanded in `08.
teaches
- BIOG 2990 - Introduction to Research Methods in Biology (TBA -) | fall 2009 class
- BIOG 4990 - Independent Undergraduate Research in Biology (TBA -) | fall 2009 class
- BIONB 4250 - Molecular Neurophysiology (TR 02:55:PM-04:10:PM) | fall 2009 class
- BIOG 2990 - Introduction to Research Methods in Biology (TBA -) | spring 2009 class
- BIONB 4200 - Topics in Neurobiology & Behavior (W 02:55:PM-04:10:PM) | spring 2009 class
service
outreach focus
I lecture on ?Molecules of Social Behavior and Emotion?, describing hormonal mechanisms and plasticity of social behavior, including parental behavior and affiliative behavior, in animals, and the importance of comparative approaches to understanding the ?logic? of the myriad of interesting interactions between neuroendocrine systems.|I am increasingly interested in the complex and reciprocal interactions between human happiness and the environment, and have spoken to multiple audiences on that topic. I participated as a faculty panel member on the subject of climate change on campus on two occasions, one hosted by the Ecology House, the other by Telluride House. I am also a resident and active particpant in Ecovillage of Ithaca (since 2003), an intentional community focused on building sustainable community and reducing our environmental footprint.
publications
linked articles
Keywords: adrenal gland, and brain on ion channel expression, and network interactions between stress, electrical excitability, electrophysiology, endocrinology, environmental psychology, gonads, growth, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, including feedback interactions in stress responses, ion channels, mental health and the environment, molecular neuroscience, mouse paternal behavior, pituitary, pituitary gland, potassium ion channels, reproductive, steroid hormones, steroids, stress, sympathetic nervous system