Douglas Wahlsten

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Douglas Wahlsten
Born (1943-10-13) October 13, 1943 (age 81)
CitizenshipCanadian
Alma mater Alma College
University of California, Irvine
Scientific career
Fields Behavioral neuroscience, psychology
Institutions University of Waterloo
University of Alberta
Thesis Direct Comparisons of Classical and Avoidance Training of Leg Flexion in Dogs  (1969)
Doctoral advisor Michael Cole
Website www.psych.ualberta.ca/~wahlsten/

Douglas Leon Wahlsten (born October 13, 1943) is a Canadian neuroscientist, psychologist, and behavior geneticist. He is a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Alberta. [1] [2] As of 2011, he was also a visiting professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in North Carolina, United States. [3] He is known for his laboratory research on the behavior of mice, and for his theoretical writings on a wide range of other topics. [4] [5] His laboratory research has included studies of the effects of different laboratory environments and experimenter characteristics on the results of mouse studies. [6] [7] He and his colleagues have also developed an altered form of the rotarod performance test involving wrapping sandpaper around the rod, to reduce the ability of mice to grip the rod and ride around on it. [5] He has criticized some of his fellow behavior geneticists for trying to separate the effects of genes and the environment on human intelligence, an endeavor he considers futile. [8] He also met and became friends with Leilani Muir, later helping to edit her autobiography, A Whisper Past. [9] [10] He was the president of the International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society from 2000 to 2001. [11]

Wahlsten is a member of the editorial board of Genes, Brain and Behavior , [12] has co-edited a book on Techniques for the Genetic Analysis of Brain and Behavior focussing on the mouse, [13] [14] [15] and authored acclaimed [16] books on mouse behavior testing [17] and human behavioral neurogenetics. [18] In 2024, he published his autobiography in two parts: one about his involvement in politics, [19] the other on his scientific endeavors. [20]

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References

  1. ↑ "Psychology Emeriti". University of Alberta . Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  2. ↑ "Biography of Dr. Douglas Wahlsten". University of Alberta. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  3. ↑ "D. Wahlsten Homepage". UNCG Department of Psychology. University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Archived from the original on 2011-04-11. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
  4. ↑ "Research Interests of Dr. Douglas Wahlsten". University of Alberta. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  5. 1 2 Crawley, Jacqueline N. (2007-05-11). What's Wrong With My Mouse?: Behavioral Phenotyping of Transgenic and Knockout Mice. John Wiley & Sons. p. 71. ISBN   9780470119044.
  6. ↑ Banach, Natalie (2005-08-01). "Genetic Environment". APS Observer. 18 (8). Retrieved 2018-06-28.
  7. ↑ Katsnelson, Alla (2014-04-28). "Male researchers stress out rodents". Nature . doi: 10.1038/nature.2014.15106 . S2CID   87534627 . Retrieved 2018-06-28.
  8. ↑ Holmes, Bob (1995-03-04). "Why the search for smart genes is doomed". New Scientist . Retrieved 2019-01-01.
  9. ↑ Dambrofsky, Gwen (2016-03-16). "Woman who successfully sued Alberta over sterilization dies". CTV News . Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  10. ↑ Johnson, Doug (2014-05-28). "In Canada of all places". Edmonton Examiner . Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  11. ↑ Kamens, Helen. "Past Officers and Executive Committee Members". IBANGS . Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  12. ↑ "Genes, Brain and Behavior". onlinelibrary.wiley.com. Wiley-Blackwell. doi:10.1111/(ISSN)1601-183X . Retrieved 2019-01-27.
  13. ↑ Ehrman, Lee (March 1994). "Techniques for the Genetic Analysis of Brain and Behavior: Focus on the Mouse (Techniques in the Behavioral and Neural Sciences, Volume 8)". Journal of Heredity. 85 (2): 167–168. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a111423.
  14. ↑ Lipp, Hans-Peter (September 1994). "Book review". Behavior Genetics. 24 (5): 477–479. doi:10.1007/BF01076183. S2CID   189854120.
  15. ↑ Goldowith, D.; Wahlsten, D.; Wimer, R.E., eds. (1992). Techniques for the genetic analysis of brain and behavior : focus on the mouse. Amsterdam: Elsevier. ISBN   9780444812490.
  16. ↑ Crusio, Wim E. (March 2013). "Mouse behavioral testing. How to use mice in behavioral research - by Douglas Wahlsten". Genes, Brain and Behavior. 12 (2): 288. doi: 10.1111/j.1601-183X.2012.00864.x .
  17. ↑ Wahlsten, Douglas (2010-10-22). Mouse Behavioral Testing: How To Use Mice in Behavioral Neuroscience. Academic Press. ISBN   9780123756749.
  18. ↑ Wahlsten, Douglas (2019). Genes, Brain Function, and Behavior: What genes do, how they malfunction, and ways to repair damage. San Diego, CA, USA: Academic Press. ISBN   978-0-12-812832-9.
  19. ↑ Wahlsten, Douglas (December 2024). Not Quite Red Enough: A Journey Into and Away from Political Activism. KDP. ISBN   1738237206.
  20. ↑ Wahlsten, Douglas (2024). Radical Science. Facts, Theories, Ideologies, Accidents. New Westminster, BC, Canada: Minuteman Press.


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