IU Biology Faculty: Jim Goodson

Jim Goodson

Associate Professor
Member, CISAB

Postdoctoral fellow, Cornell University, 1998-2000
Ph.D., Cornell University, 1998
B.A., University of North Florida, 1992

Program Affiliation: Evolution, Ecology and Behavior

Research Groups Affiliation: Behavior | Evolution

Frank Beach Award, Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, 2004

Phone: 812/856-4756
Fax:812/855-6705
Email Jim

Neural/neuroendocrine mechanisms of social behavior; comparative neuroanatomy; evolution of avian sociality

Vasotocin neurons (green) expressing an immediate early gene protein (red; a marker of neural activity). Vasotocin neurons in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (a part of the brain's "social behavior network") increase their activity when animals are exposed to positive social stimuli (stimuli that normally elicit affiliative behaviors) but not negative social stimuli (stimuli that normally elicit avoidance or attack). These vasotocin neurons are more numerous and more active in gregarious finch species than in territorial species. Vasotocin neurons also exhibit different responses to same-sex stimuli in gregarious and territorial species (see Goodson and Wang, PNAS, 2006).

Our research focuses on a network of brain regions that regulate social behavior in all vertebrates. We work mostly in songbirds, but have also conducted studies in teleost (bony) fish. These groups exhibit greater social diversity than other vertebrates, allowing us to ask questions that are not tractable in other taxa. We are currently exploring how brain circuits and related motivational processes differ between bird species that differ in sociality, as defined by their species-typical group sizes (i.e., the species are territorial, modestly gregarious, or highly gregarious). Importantly, much of our work has shown that social behavior circuits of the basal forebrain are structurally and functionally similar across all vertebrate classes. This suggests that our work in birds and fish should be informative for a broad range of species, including mammals. We work in both the field and in the lab, and employ a variety of behavioral and anatomical techniques.

A male violet-eared waxbill (Uraeginthus granatina; left) and a spice finch (Lonchura punctulata; right). These are two of the five estrildid finch species being studied in the lab. The species are similar in most aspects of behavior and ecology, but differ strongly in sociality. For instance, whereas violet-eared waxbills are territorial and live as male-female pairs, spice finches are highly gregarious and live in groups of 100 or more. Photos courtesy D. Swanepoel and D. Behrens, respectively.

Representative Publications:

[Search Pubmed]

View our recent press release. (October 2006)

Goodson J. L., Wang, Y.A. (2006). Valence-sensitive neurons exhibit divergent functional profiles in gregarious and asocial species. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 103, 17013-17017.

Goodson J. L., Evans A. K., Wang, Y. (2006). Neuropeptide binding reflects convergent and divergent evolution in species-typical group sizes. Hormones and Behavior, 50, 223-236.

Goodson J. L. (2005). The vertebrate social behavior network: Evolutionary themes and variations (Frank Beach Award paper). Hormones and Behavior, 48, 11-22.

Goodson J. L., Evans A. K., Lindberg L., Allen, C. D. (2005). Neuro-evolutionary patterning of sociality. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, series B, 272, 227-235.

Goodson J. L., Evans A. K., Lindberg L. (2004). Chemoarchitectonic subdivisions of the songbird septum and a comparative overview of septum chemical anatomy in jawed vertebrates. Journal of Comparative Neurology 473, 293-314.