Assistant Professor of Biology
B.S. The Ohio University
Ph.D. The University of California, Davis
Colton 205A
(330) 569-5316
koehnletj@hiram.edu
Research Interests
Do you believe in love at first sight? Have you ever been scared out of
your shoes? Did you ever wonder why scary music adds suspense to
movies? Why are some people very shy or reserved, while others seek
endless thrills? A quickening of the pulse, butterflies in your
stomach, or gasping for breath are hallmarks of love, fear, and
excitement. My
fundamental research interest is in understanding how these processes
work.
Sensory feedback from the body, in a process called "interoception,"
shapes our personality, our emotions, our learning, and our
decisionmaking. My priorities are 1) To understand how interoception
shapes animal behavior (including the behavior of people), 2) To
understand the neuroanatomical substrates and physiological systems
that support these behaviors, 3) To understand the development of these
substrates and systems, across both normal and abnormal life
experiences.
Currently I am focused on understanding how interoception shapes animal behavior. As part of this work, I am conducting a research project to determine whether behavioral reactivity in rodents is stable across time and across different types of situation. In this research I am examining harm-avoidance and novelty-seeking behaviors in wild rats. Basically, that means we expose a bunch of rats to novel or potentially threatening stimuli, and see what's happening inside their brains. Students wanting to work in my lab should love rodents (but not too much) and old barns.
My studies span multiple levels of analysis, from looking at
behavior of animals in the field to understanding the neuroanatomy and
physiology that supports this behavior. This is probably the only lab
on campus where you'll learn to use both a
chainsaw and a
microtome. Some
day's you'll smell like
formaldehyde,
other days you'll smell like
DEET. Ah, the joys of
research!
So why bother with any of this stuff? It's because alterations in the
anatomy and
function of interoceptive brain
circuits have been linked to an array of psychiatric disorders in
humans,
including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and
functional
bowel disorders. If we learn how these brain circuits work in animals,
it will help us to understand how they work in people, and may lead to
better treatments for a number of diseases and disorders.
Education
B.S. in Biological Sciences from The
Ohio University,
1998
Ph.D. in Animal Behavior from The University of
California, Davis, 2004
Post Doctoral Scholar, Functional Neuroanatomy,
University of
Pittsburgh, 2004-2007.
Quasi-Academic Hobbies
Science Fiction and Fantasy, especially Ellison,
Borges, and Pratchett.
History of almost any stripe, but especially the
history of technology.
Statistics, particularly the history and
application of different methods and models (I'm currently researching
the history of educational assessment).
Early Christian theology, from Enoch and its
predecessors through the first Council of Nicea.
Teaching Experience
Assistant Professor of Biology, Hiram College, 2007 - Present
Human Anatomy and Physiology
Post Doctoral Scholar, University of Pittsburgh, 2004 - 2007
Experimental Design and Data Analysis for
Neuroscience
Mentor for 2 undergraduate research projects
Graduate Instruction, UC Davis, 1998 - 2004
Physiological Psychology
Developmental Psychobiology
Graduate Statistics
Mentored 2 undergraduate research projects.
Research Publications