Professor, Department of Psychology, Concordia University Research My research is generally concerned with the neurochemical and molecular events that subserve sexual behavior and neuroendocrine functions. I am interested in the role of brain monoamine and neuropeptide systems in sexual arousal, desire, reward, and inhibition in laboratory animals. I am also interested in the inhibitory and disinhibitory effects of drugs of abuse on sexual behavior. Current research examines the role played by steroid hormones, neurotransmitter systems, and cell signalling mechanisms, in the neuronal and behavioral responses to primary and conditioned sexual stimuli, especially those that induce sexual partner preferences. The neurochemical and molecular systems activated by primary and conditioned sexual stimuli are being explored using a combination of in vivo techniques such as microdialysis, and ex vivo techniques such as immunocytochemistry, in situ hybridization histochemistry, and autoradiography. My research in human sexual function focuses on subjective and objective measures of sexual desire in women and men, and how such measures are altered by different types of erotic stimuli. We are also exploring the sexual functioning of individuals under stress or with anxiety disorders. Selected Publications Pfaus JG, Manitt C, Coopersmith CB (2006) Effects of pelvic, pudendal, or hypogastric nerve cuts on Fos induction in the rat brain following vaginocervical stimulation. Physiol Behav. 89:627-36. [Cit.] [PDF] Pfaus JG, Scepkowski LA (2005) The biological basis for libido. Curr Sex Health Rep 2:95-100. [PDF] Pfaus JG, Shadiack A, Van Soest T, Tse M, Molinoff P (2004) Selective facilitation of sexual solicitation in the female rat by a melanocortin receptor agonist. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101(27):10201-4. [Cit.] [PDF] Pfaus JG, Kippin TE, Coria-Avila G (2003) What can animal models tell us about human sexual response?. Annu Rev Sex Res 14:1-63. [Cit.] [PDF] Pfaus JG, Kippin TE, Centeno S (2001) Conditioning and sexual behavior: a review. Horm Behav 40(2):291-321. [Cit.] [PDF] Selected Student/Postdoctoral Publications Afonso VM, Pfaus JG (2006) Hormonal and experiential control of female-male mounting in the female rat. Horm Behav 49(1):30-7. [Cit.] [PDF] Georgescu M, Pfaus JG (2006) Role of glutamate receptors in the ventromedial hypothalamus in the regulation of female rat sexual behaviors I. Behavioral effects of glutamate and its selective receptor agonists AMPA, NMDA and kainate. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 83(2):322-32. [Cit.] [PDF] Coria-Avila GA, Ouimet AJ, Pacheco P, Manzo J, Pfaus JG (2005) Olfactory conditioned partner preference in the female rat. Behav Neurosci 119(3):716-25. [Cit.] [PDF] Kippin TE, Sotiropoulos V, Badih J, Pfaus JG (2004) Opposing roles of the nucleus accumbens and anterior lateral hypothalamic area in the control of sexual behaviour in the male rat. Eur J Neurosci 19(3):698-704. [Cit.] [PDF] Scepkowski LA, Georgescu M, Pfaus JG (2006) Neuroendocrine factors in sexual desire and motivation. In Goldstein I, Meston C, Davis K, Traish A (Eds.) Women's Sexual Function and Dysfunction (pp. 159-167). London: Taylor and Francis. [PDF] Vasey PL, Pfaus JG (2005) A sexually dimorphic hypothalamic nucleus in a macaque species with frequent female-female mounting and same-sex sexual partner preference. Behav Brain Res 157(2):265-72. [Cit.] [PDF]

About Jim Pfaus Jim Pfaus received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of British Columbia in 1990. Following postdoctoral training in molecular biology and behavior with Dr. Donald Pfaff at the Rockefeller University (1990-1992), he joined the Department of Psychology and the Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology at Concordia University. Jim was the 1995 recipient of the Frank A. Beach Award in Behavioral Endocrinology from the Society for Neuroscience, and in 1997 was inducted into the International Academy of Sex Research. Full CV Funding My laboratory is funded by operating grants from CIHR and NSERC. In addition, I hold consulting grants from several pharmaceutical and biotech companies, for example, Pfizer and Palatin Technologies, to work on the sexual side-effects of different psychiatric medications and on the identification of new drugs to treat male and female sexual dysfunctions.