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	Dr Simone Meddle Senior Lecturer in Veterinary Biomedical Science School of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Medicine University of Edinburgh Summerhall
Address for correspondence: Centre for Integrative Physiology Hugh Robson Building Edinburgh EH8 9XD	Tel: +44(0)131 650 2862 Fax: +44(0)131 650 2872 Email: s.l.meddle@ed.ac.uk

Personal Profile

• BSc (Hons) in Zoology; University of Bristol (1991)
• PhD University of Bristol (1992-1995)
• Research Fellow; Department of Physiology, University of Edinburgh (1995-1996)
• Research Fellow; Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, USA (1996-1999)
• Temporary Lecturer and Research Fellow; Schools of Biomedical Sciences and Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh (1999-2005)
• Lecturer in Veterinary Biomedical Science at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh (2005-2008)
• Senior Lecturer in Veterinary Biomedical Science at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh (2008)

Research

I have several lines of research currently underway all related to my specific interest in behavioural neuroendocrinology.

My research focuses on how environmental cues can trigger the expression of functionally important behaviours. This is a question of significant importance in neuroscience, and neuroendocrine behaviour is an ideal model to address this problem. Neuroendocrine-related behaviours are thought to be initiated or enabled by peripheral hormone secretion, and appear to involve specific neurohormonal actions of peptides within the brain. The exact mechanisms by which hormones affect the apparent organisational changes in neuronal circuitry and the specific chemical signals involved in sustaining the resulting behaviours, are questions fundamental to understanding behavioural disorders.

• Hormonal and neural regulation of aggression and reproductive behaviours
• Neuroendocrine control of reproduction, pregnancy and parturition
• Adaptations in neuroendocrine stress response mechanisms
• The circadian system, photoperiodism and seasonality
• Physiological and neuroendocrine adaptations to breeding in the Arctic (collaborative research with Professor J Wingfield, University of Washington, USA)
• Neural and endocrinological bases of spatial learning and memory in food-storing birds. (collaborative research with Dr S Healy, University of Edinburgh)

Funding

• BBSRC
• Royal Society
• DAAD/ARC Research Exchange Grant 2007-2009
• DAAD/ARC Research Exchange Grant 2008-2010 (with Dr Oliver Bosch at the Department of Behavioural and Molecular Neuroendocrinology, Universität Regensburg Germany)

Team Members

• Valerie Bishop
• Sarah Caughey
• Olivia Haggis
• Doug Wacker

Collaborations

• Professor John Wingfield (University of Washington)
• Dr Sue Healy (University of Edinburgh)
• Dr Rick D’Eath (Scottish Agricultural College)
• Professor Mario Engelmann (Institute of Medical Neurobiology, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität, Magdeburg, Germany)
• Professor Mike Ludwig (University of Edinburgh)
• Dr Oliver Bosch (Department of Behavioural and Molecular Neuroendocrinology, Universität Regensburg Germany)

Recent Publications

2008

Douglas AJ, Meddle SL (2008) Fast delivery: A central role for oxytocin. In: Neurobiology of the Parental Mind Bridges B (ed), Elsevier, pp 223-232

Hodgson ZG, Meddle SL, Christians J, Sperry TS & Healy SD (2008) Influence of sex steroid hormones on spatial memory in a songbird. J Comp Physiol A (Accepted in press, E Pub Sept 2008)

Leng G, Meddle SL, Douglas AJ (2008) Oxytocin: pregnancy, birth and maternal behaviour. Curr Opin Pharmacol (Accepted in press, E Pub Aug 2008)

2007

Douglas AJ, Meddle SL, Kroemer S, Muesch W, Bosch OJ, Neumann ID (2007) Social stress induces hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis responses in lactating rats bred for high trait anxiety. Eur J Neurosci 25(5):1599-603

Hodgson ZG, Meddle SL, Roberts ML, Buchanan KL, Evans MR, Metzdorf R, Gahr M, Healy SD (2007) Spatial ability is impaired and hippocampal mineralocorticoid receptor mRNA expression reduced in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) selected for acute high corticosterone response to stress. Proc Biol Sci 274(1607): 239-245

Meddle SL, Bishop VR, Gkoumassi E, van Leeuwen FW, Douglas AJ (2007) Dynamic changes in oxytocin receptor expression and activation at parturition in the rat brain. Endocrinology 148: 5095-5104

Wingfield JC, Meddle SL, Moore I, Busch S, Wacker D, Lynn S Clark A, Vasquez R, Addis E (2007) Endocrine responsiveness to social challenges in northern and southern hemisphere populations of Zonotrichia. Journal of Ornithology 148 (Suppl 2): S435-S441

2006

Meddle SL, Wingfield JC, Millar RP, Deviche PJ (2006) Hypothalamic GnRH-I and its precursor during photorefractoriness onset in free-living male Dark-eyed Juncos (Junco hyemalis) of different year classes. Gen Comp Endocrinol 145(2):148-156

Meddle SL, Bush S, Sharp PJ, Millar RP, Wingfield JC (2006) Hypothalamic Pro-GnRH-GAP, GnRH-I and GnRH-II during the onset of photofractoriness in the White-Crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophys gambelii). J Neuroendocrinol 18(3): 217-226

2005

Bosch OJ, Meddle SL, Beiderbeck DI, Douglas AJ & Neuman ID (2005) Brain oxytocin regulates maternal aggression in lactating rats. J Neuroscience 25:6807-6815

Brunton PJ, Meddle SL, Ma S, Ochedalski T, Douglas AJ & Russell JA (2005) Endogenous opioids and reduced neuroendocrine stress responses to immune challenge in pregnant rats. J Neuroscience 25:5117-5126

D’Eath RB, Ormandy E Lawrence AB, Sumner BEH & Meddle SL (2005) Resident-intruder trait aggression is associated with differences in lysine vasopressin and serotonin receptor 1A (5-HT1A) mRNA expression in the hypothalamus of pre-pubertal female domestic pigs (Sus scrofa). J Neuroendocrinol 17: 679-686

Douglas AJ, Meddle SL, Toschi N, Bosch OJ & Neumann I.D (2005) Reduced activity of the noradrenergic system in the paraventricular nucleus at the end of pregnancy: implications for stress hyporesponsiveness. J Neuroendocrinol 17:40-48

Meddle SL, Somponpun S J, Bishop VR, Kallo I, Coen C, Holmes MC, Seckl JR & Russell JA (2005) Modulation of estrogen receptor-beta mRNA expression in rat supraoptic and paraventricular nucleus neurons by gonadal steroids, phytoestrogen and reproductive state. J Endocrinology (submitted, under revision)

Perfito N, Meddle SL, Tramontin AD, Sharp PJ, Ishii S, Kikuchi M & Wingfield JC (2005) Seasonal gonadal recrudescence in song sparrows: Response to temperature cues. Gen Comp Endocrinol 143:121-128

Sperry TS, Moore IT, Meddle SL, Benowitz-Fredericks ZM & Wingfield JC (2005) Increased sensitivity of the serotonergic system during the breeding season in free-living American tree sparrows. Behav Brain Res 157:119-126

2004

Perfito N, Tramontin AD, Meddle SL, Sharp PJ, Afik D, Gee J, Ishii S, Kikuchi M & Wingfield JC (2004) Reproductive development according to elevation in a seasonally breeding songbird. Oecologia 140:201-210

Wingfield JC, Owen-Ashley N, Benowitz-Fredericks ZM, Lynn SE, Hahn TP, Wada H, Breuner C, Meddle SL & Romero LM (2004) Arctic spring: The arrival biology of Arctic birds. Acta Zoologica Sinica 50(6):948-960

2003

Breuner CW, Orchinik, M, Hahn TP, Meddle SL, Moore IT, Owen-Ashley NT, Sperry TS & Wingfield JC (2003) Differential mechanisms for plasticity of the stress response across latitudinal gradients. Am J Physiol: Regulatory, Integrative, and Comparative Physiology 285: R594-R600

Meddle SL, Owen-Ashley NT, Richardson MI, & Wingfield JC (2003) Modulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis of an Arctic-breeding polygynandrous songbird, the Smith’s longspur, Calcarius pictus. Proc R Soc Lond B 270: 1849-1856

2002

Douglas AJ, Bicknell RJ, Leng G, Russell JA & Meddle SL (2002) beta-endorphin cells in the arcurate nucleus: projections to the supraoptic nucleus and changes in expression during pregnancy and parturition. J Neuroendocrinology 14:768-777

Francis K, Meddle SL, Bishop VR, & Russell JA (2002) Progesterone receptor expression in the pregnant rat hypothalamus and brainstem. Brain Res 927:18-26

Meddle SL, Bentley GE, King VM (2002) Photoperiodism in birds and mammals. In: Biological Rhythms. Kumar V (ed) Narosa Publishing House, New Delhi, India Pg 201-215. 8

Meddle SL, Romero LM, Astheimer LB, Buttemer WA & Wingfield JC (2002) Steroid hormone interelationships with territorial aggression in an Arctic-breeding songbird, Gambel's Whitecrowned sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii. Horm Behav 42:212-221

2001

Wingfield JC, Soma KK, Wilkelski M, Meddle SL & Hau M (2001) Life cycles, behavioral traits and endocrine mechanisms. In: Avian Endocrinology. Dawson A & Chaturvedi CM (eds) Narosa Publishing House, New Delhi, India Pg 3-17

2000

Meddle SL, Leng G, Selvarajah JR, Bicknell RJ & Russell JA (2000) Direct pathways to the supraoptic nucleus from the brainstem and the main olfactory bulb are activated at parturition in the rat. Neuroscience 101:1013-1021