Research is funded by the Health Research Council (New Zealand), the Royal Society of New Zealand (Marsden Fund), and the National Institutes of Health (USA).
Research Interests:
• Neural regulation of fertility; in particular, understanding how the GnRH neurons control pituitary gonadotropin secretion.
• Mechanisms through which gonadal steroids influence brain function.
Selection of Recent Publications:
Campbell Re, Gaidamaka G, Han S-K, & Herbison AE (2009) Dendro-dendritic bundling and shared synapses between gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(26): 10835-10840.
Clarkson J, d'Anglemont de Tassigny X, Morena AS, Colledge WH, & Herbison AE (2008) Kisspeptin-GPR54 signaling is essential for preovulatory gonadotropin-releasing hormone neuron activation and the luteinizing hormone surge. J Neurosci 28, 8709-8723.
Jasoni CL, Todman MG, Strumia MM, Herbison AE (2007) Cell type-specific expression of a genetically-encoded calcium indicator reveals intrinsic calcium oscillations in adult GnRH neurons. J Neurosci 27, 860-867.
Wintermantel TM, Campbell RE, Porteous R, Bock D, Gröne HJ, Todman MG, Korach KS, Greiner E, Perez CA, Schütz G, Herbison AE (2006) Definition of estrogen receptor pathway critical for estrogen positive feedback to gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons and fertility. Neuron52, 271-280.
Han SK, Gottsch ML, Lee KJ, Popa SM, Smith JT, Jakawich SK, Clifton DK, Steiner RA, Herbison AE (2005) Activation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons by kisspeptin as a neuroendocrine switch for the onset of puberty. J Neurosci 25, 11349-11356.
GnRH neurons