Ph.D. University of Georgia (1999)

Research Interests

Aggression, dominance relationships, social stress, coping, resilience

Research statement

My laboratory is focused on the social, neuroendocrine, and neurochemical mechanisms regulating social stress and dominant/subordinate relationships. We use models of acute social defeat in Syrian hamsters and mice to investigate mechanisms underlying stress-induced changes in behavior. Projects in the lab are intended to improve understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying stress-related psychopathologies. The lab employs a multidisciplinary approach, and we use a variety of techniques including behavioral observation, stereotaxic surgery, microinfusion of pharmacological agents, hormone assays, immunohistochemistry, , neuronal tract tracing, chemogenetics, and fiber photometry.

Current and Future Directions

We have several ongoing research projects focused on the biological basis of susceptibility and resistance to stress. In one line of research, we are studying how changes in androgen and estrogen activity within select brain regions, such as the medial amygdala, regulate the behavioral effects of social defeat in Syrian hamsters. Another line of research is focused on the neural circuits in the prefrontal cortex controlling resistance to the effects of social stress in dominant hamsters. In addition, we are investigating the cellular mechanisms by which social play in juvenile animals generates the critical neuroplasticity in the prefrontal cortex that underlies competent social behavior in adulthood.

• 2021 Fellow, American Psychological Association, Division 6: Behav. Neuro. & Comp. Psych.
• 2019 Faculty Research Mentor Award, UTK Office of Undergraduate Research
• 2018 Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year, UTK Office of the Chancellor
• 2017 Faculty Research Mentor Award, UTK Office of Undergraduate Research
• 2013 Scholar of the Week, Office of Research and Engagement, UT Knoxville

Current Funding

• National Institutes of Health

Small Grant Program, R03 MH134181

Role of gonadal steroids in stress-sensitive neural circuits

2023-2026; $100,000 direct costs; PI

• National Institutes of Health

Academic Research Enhancement Award, R15 MH122946

Mechanisms by which social experience promotes stress resilience

2020-2024; $295,000 direct costs; PI

Select Past Funding

• National Institutes of Health

Academic Research Enhancement Award, R15 MH107007

Neural circuits controlling resiliency in dominant animals

2016-2020; $300,000 direct costs; PI

• National Institutes of Health

Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award, R21 MH098190

Understanding neural circuits that control resistance to social stress

2012-2015; $200,000 direct costs; PI

Cooper, M.A., Hooker M.K., Whitten C. J., Kelly C.J., Jenkins M.S., Mahometano S.C., and Scarbrough M.C. (2023). Dominance status modulates activity in medial amygdala cells with projections to the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. Behavioral Brain Research, 114628.

Cooper, M.A., Grizzell, J.A., Whitten, C.J., and Burghardt G.M. (2023). Comparing the ontogeny, neurobiology, and function of social play in hamsters and rats. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 147, 105102.

Cooper, M.A., Clinard, C.T., Dulka, B.N., Grizzell, J.A., Loewen, A.L., Campbell, A.V., and Adler, S.G. (2021). Gonadal steroid hormone receptors in the medial amygdala contribute to experience-dependent changes in stress vulnerability. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 129, 105249.

Grizzell, J.A., Clarity, T.T., Graham, N.B., Dulka, B.N. and Cooper, M.A. (2020). Activity of a vmPFC-DRN pathway corresponds with resistance to acute social defeat stress. Frontiers in Neural Circuits, 14, 50.

Dulka, B.N, Bagatelas, E.D., Bress, K.S., Grizzell, A.J., Cannon, M.K., Whitten, C.J. and Cooper, M.A. (2020). Chemogenetic activation of an infralimbic cortex to basolateral amygdala projection promotes resistance to acute social defeat stress. Scientific Reports, 10, 6884.

Dulka, B.N., Bourdon, A.K., Clinard, C.T., Muvvala, M.B.K., Campagna, S.R. and Cooper, M.A. (2017). Metabolomics reveals distinct neurochemical profiles associated with stress resilience. Neurobiology of Stress, 7: 103-112.

Clinard, C.T., Barnes, A.K., Adler, S.G. and Cooper, M.A. (2016). Winning agonistic encounters increases testosterone and androgen receptor expression in Syrian hamsters. Hormones and Behavior, 86: 27-35.

Burleson, C.A., Pedersen, R.W., Seddighi, S., DeBusk, L.E., Burghardt, G.M. and Cooper M.A. (2016). Social play in juvenile hamsters alters dendritic morphology in the medial prefrontal cortex and attenuates effects of social stress in adulthood. Behavioral Neuroscience, 130: 437-447.

Cooper, M.A., Clinard, C.T. and Morrison, K.E. (2015). Neurobiological mechanisms supporting experience-dependent resistance to social stress. Neuroscience, 291: 1-14.

Morrison, K.E., Bader, L.R., Clinard, C.T., Gerhard, D.M., Gross, S.E. and Cooper, M.A. (2014). Maintenance of dominance status is necessary for resistance to social defeat stress in Syrian hamsters. Behavioral Brain Research, 270: 277-286.