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photoMichael Kerchner, Ph.D. graduated with a B.S. in psychology in 1978 from American International College in Springfield MA. His graduate degrees were earned at Lehigh University in 1984 (M.S.) and 1988 (Ph.D.). From 1988-1991, Dr. Kerchner was a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at Villanova University in the laboratory of Ingeborg Ward, where he studied the effects of prenatal stress on the development of neuroanatomical sex differences in the rat brain. His research interests span such topics as the hormonal regulation of behavior, rodent chemo-communication, psychopharmacology, developmental neuroanatomy, and comparative psychology. Professor Kerchner has published articles in such journals as Brain Research, Hormones and Behavior, Behavioral and Neural Biology, The Journal of Comparative Psychology, and Psychological Bulletin.

Since the program was established in 1993, Dr.Kerchner has served as advisor to psychology majors who are participating in the department's Concentration in Behavioral Neuroscience. In addition he is advisor to Psi Chi, the National Honor Society in Psychology, and a founding member and past President of the local campus chapter of Sigma Xi. He has supervised over 45 undergraduate senior thesis projects over the past eleven years and co-authored numerous student poster presentations at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, the Eastern Psychological Association (EPA) and various regional undergraduate research conferences.

Dr K has helped organize and been a presenter at several workshops sponsored by Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) and has been a member of PKAL Faculty for the 21st Century since 1996. In 1998, Dr. Kerchner was the recipient of the Washington College Alumni Award for distinguished teaching.

In the 2002-2003 academic year, Dr Kerchner is on sabbatical leave. During this period he has a National Research Council Fellowship at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense (USAMRICD) located at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Aberdeen, Maryland. His work there is directed toward testing a variety of drugs for their neuroprotectant properties.

Selected Publications

Kerchner, M., Malsbury, C.W., Ward, O.B. & Ward, I. (1995). Sexually dimorphic areas in the rat medial amygdala: Resistance to the demasculinizing effect of prenatal stress. Brain Research, 672, 251-260.

Sipos, M.L., Kerchner, M., & Nyby, J. (1992). An ephemeral sex pheromone in the urine of female house mice (Mus domesticus). Behavioral and Neural Biology, 58, 138-143.

Kerchner, M. & Ward, I.L. (1992). SDN-MPOA volume in male rats is decreased by prenatal stress, but is not related to ejaculatory behavior. Brain Research, 581, 244-251.

Grisham, W., Kerchner, M., & Ward, I.L. (1991). Prenatal stress alters sexually dimorphic nuclei in the spinal cord of male rats. Brain Research, 551, 126-131.

Recent Senior Thesis Projects in Behavioral Neuroscience

This past year there were three senior thesis projects in behavioral neuroscience that were completed under the supervision of Dr Kerchner. The following are brief descriptions of the four projects.

Mary Beever (’04)
Validity of the Chronic Mild Stress Model Of Depression in Adult Male Mice
This study examined the validity of the chronic mild stress (CMS) model of depression. Adult C57BL/6 male mice, 89 days of age were subjected to 5 weeks of unpredictable stressors such as 3-h periods of food and water deprivation, 30-min periods of pair housing, and 10-h periods of 45-degree cage-tilt. Consumption of a 1% sucrose solution changes in body weight, open field activity, and Porsolt swim tests were used as a measure of depression. It was found that animals exposed to CMS had a significantly lower consumption of sucrose and shorted latency of inhibition in the Porsolt swim test. These findings are consistent with the anhedonia and behavioral despair that are experienced by those affected by depression. There were no significant effects of group on body weight or open field activity.

Candace Turner ('04)
Relating Testosterone and Cortisol Levels with Hyperactivity and Aggressive Behaviors in Male Children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
The purpose of this study was to observe a possible relationship between hyperactivity and hormones in children with ADHD. It was hypothesized that testosterone levels would be higher in children with higher levels of hyperactivity, while cortisol levels were expected to be lower in these children. The participants included 11 male subjects, ages 7-12. According to parent rating scales, testosterone levels were negatively correlated with hyperactivity with clinical significance (r = -.506, p = .306), while cortisol levels and hyperactivity yielded a positive correlation (r = .330, p = .425).

Marcella White (’02)
Cocaine Response in Adult Mice Treated with Methylphenidate as Juveniles
Repeated administration of psychostimulants enhances the rewarding and locomotor effects of subsequent drug exposure. Methylphenidate (MP) is administered clinically on a daily basis to children and adolescents for the treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. It has been demonstrated in animal and human models that prior exposure to MP during adolescence and adulthood may produce a sensitization or tolerance of behavioral responses to cocaine. Since administration of MP is often administered in low doses beginning during pre-adolescence, the aim of a low dose of MP (2.0mg/kg) early in postnatal development on locomotor effects of cocaine (10mg/kg) in adulthood. MP exposed and saline exposed juvenile mice displayed similar locomotor activating effects to cocaine. These results suggest that previous exposure to low doses of MP does not produce sensitized responses to cocaine.

Current Student Projects in Dr. Kerchner's Laboratory

Other students are participating in a collaborative project with two other Washington College faculty members, Dr Spilich, and Dr. Cameron, examining the effects of gonadal hormones on gender differences in performance on a variety of cognitive and sensory tasks among college students.

Future Directions:

In the coming years students and I will be conducting a number of studies designed to identify the influence of steroid hormones on the behavior of mice in variety of behavioral paradigms in addition to ASR and PPI. These studies will first examine the activational effects of androgens and estrogens in each of these paradigms and subsequent studies will examine what role these same hormones may play early in the development to establish sex differences in mature mice. Building upon the research I am currently conducting during my sabbatical, some studies will also examine the neuroprotectant properties of various neurosteroids and sex difference in recovery from neurotrauma.


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