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Tim Smock received his Ph.D. in Physiology (Neuroscience)
from the University of California at San Francisco in 1982.
After a post-doctoral fellowship in pharmacology at the University
of London, he came to the University of Colorado at Boulder
where he has been an Associate Professor of Psychology since
1990. His research work has always focused on peptide transmitters
and has entailed investigation of a number of organisms from
sea slugs to rats. Much of this work involved biochemical
and electrophysiological investigation of peptides that mediate
sexual behavior by action within the limbic system.
Recently, the research has focused on the biological basis
of violence. Using tissue rescued from baboons killed by the
Kenyan Wildlife Service, Dr. Smock and his colleagues have
shown differences in the structure of the temporal lobes that
distinguish aggressive from non-aggressive animals. Ongoing
research will explore subcortical differences in transmitter
chemistry and, ultimately, attempt to discern changes in the
expression of specific trophic substances as a potential determinant
of aggressive behavior in the adult.
Selected Publications:
Smock, T., Albeck, D. and Stark, P. (1998) A peptidergic
basis for sexual behavior in mammals. Progress in Brain Research
119:463-477
Stark, P., Alpern, H.P.,Fuhrer, J, Trowbridge, M., Wimbish,
H. and Smock, T. (1998) The medial amygdaloid nucleus modifies
social behavior in male rats. Physiology and Behavior 63:253-259
Garritano, J., Martinez, C., Grossman, K., Intemann, P.,
Merrit, K., Pfoff, R. and Smock, T. (1996) The output of the
hippocampus is inhibited during social behavior in the male
rat. Experimental Brain Research 111:35-40
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