Michael Jarcho

I completed my undergraduate education at Colby College, where I was a Biology major. After spending some time working in various research labs, I entered a Ph.D. program at the University of California, Davis. I completed that degree while working at the California National Primate Research Center where I worked with titi monkeys, a monogamous New World monkey species. My next stop was a postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA's Cousin's Center for Psychoneuroimmunology. My first faculty position was at Loras College where I started the Neuroscience Program. In 2016 I joined the Psychology Department faculty at Siena.

My Professional Experience

Current Research

My interests are in the effects of various social stressors on behavior, stress physiology, and immune function. My main avenues for pursuing these interests are through a female mouse model and human social exclusion model. With the mice, students in my lab and I collect hair samples from mice to evaluate corticosterone (the primary stress hormone in mice) levels. We also assess mouse behaviors with a series of behavioral trials, including the elevated plus maze, the open field maze, and the social preference test. With the human branch, participants play a computer simulated game of catch (Cyberball) with two other players, and eventually are excluded from the game. We look at various biomarkers and psychological markers to determine how this social exclusion event effects the participants. Ultimately, my hope is that both of these avenues of research will provide information to aide in the development of new strategies and treatments for individuals suffering from mood disorders like clinical anxiety, major depression, and others.

Articles & Book Reviews

• Pair bond Formation Leads to a Sustained Increase in Global Cerebral Glucose Metabolism in Monogamous Male Titi Monkeys (Callicebus cupreus)
  Neuroscience
  2017
• Behavioral and physiological response to onset and termination of social instability in female mice
  Hormones and Behavior
  2016
• Challenges to the Pair Bond: Neural and Hormonal Effects of Separation and Reunion in a Monogamous Primate
  Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
  2016
• Neural mechanisms linking social status and inflammatory responses to social stress
  Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
  2016
• Greater amygdala activity and dorsomedial prefrontal–amygdala coupling are associated with enhanced inflammatory responses to stress
  Brain, Behavior, and Immunity
  2015
• Laboratory simulations of mate‐guarding as a component of the pair‐bond in male titi monkeys, Callicebus cupreus
  American Journal of Primatology
  2015
• Dysregulated diurnal cortisol pattern is associated with glucocorticoid resistance in women with major depressive disorder
  Biological Psychology
  2013
• Presence of a pair-mate regulates the behavioral and physiological effects of opioid manipulation in the monogamous titi monkey (Callicebus cupreus)
  Psychoneuroendocrinology
  2013
• Hormonal and experiential predictors of infant survivorship and maternal behavior in a monogamous primate (Callicebus cupreus)
  American Journal of Primatology
  2012
• Intranasal vasopressin affects pair bonding and peripheral gene expression in male Callicebus cupreus
  Genes, Brain and Behavior
  2011