Owen Floody
Professor Emeritus
Contact Information
ofloody@bucknell.edu
Education
B.A., Yale, 1968
Ph.D., Rockefeller, 1974
Courses
General Psychology
Human Neuropsychology
Neuroscience
Physiological Psychology
Physiological
Psychology Laboratory
Research Interests
The control of animal reproductive behavior by specific hormones and neurotransmitters. The identification of the brain areas and mechanisms that control these behaviors and mediate the effects of the relevant hormones and transmitters. The localization of function within the brain. The recovery of function following brain damage.
Department of Psychology
1974–2012 • 38 years
“I’ve always liked figuring out how things work,” says Owen Floody, professor emeritus of psychology. “I thought it would be even more interesting to explore our own operating system.” Floody describes his work as straddling the line between psychology and biology, exploring the brain, biochemical influence and behavior. “I would have been a neuroscientist if the field had been developed when I was in school. As it is, I created my own blend of what I’ve wanted to work on."
Since arriving at Bucknell in 1974, Floody has worked closely with his students, drawing on the mentoring he received from his professors as an undergrad at Yale. “One thing I learned from my professors was, you don’t really understand something completely until you can explain it to someone else. They were not only expected to know their topic and study it, but also to be able to transmit that information successfully. They balanced teaching and research. I considered my teaching a real success when my work with the students not only expanded their knowledge, it expanded mine.”
Floody deepened his students’ knowledge base and sharpened their critical thinking skills by having them explain their work not just by providing academically rigorous study analysis, but by detailing their findings in their own papers. “Their perspective allowed me to think of things in ways I wouldn’t have without them,” he says.
This has parlayed into an unexpected benefit of working at a liberal arts institution. Working with an “intellectually gifted and curious” student body, Floody says he had the opportunity to serve as a mentor to students of all different majors. “I’ve worked with students from animal behavior, biology, chemistry, neuroscience and psychology. This interdisciplinary approach has allowed students to see that there are plenty of gray areas open for cooperation and exploration, plenty of questions about the brain, about what makes us tick, that have yet to be answered.”
Retirement won’t cause Floody to slow down. In the next year he will accompany his wife, fellow Bucknell Professor of Psychology Andrea Halpern, to London for her sabbatical. An avid fan of traveling for pleasure, he intends to use their flat in London as a launch pad for trips to Nepal — a highly anticipated new destination — and Mont Blanc and Tanzania, to which he is eager to return. As for his latest study, which focuses on the influence of neurotransmitters on mating behavior, Floody says, “Although my research is done, I’ve still got a few years of analysis and article writing left for scientific publication. I may be out of the classroom, but I’m not done working. Not yet.”
Recent Publications (reflecting current interests)
Floody, O. R. & DeBold, J. F. Effects of midbrain lesions on lordosis and ultrasound production. Physiology and Behavior, in press, 2004.
Floody, O. R. Time course of VMN lesion effects on lordosis and proceptive behavior in female hamsters. Hormones and Behavior, 41, 366-376, 2002.
Gibson, B. M. and Floody, O. R., Time course of VMN lesion effects on lordosis and ultrasound production in hamsters. Behavioral Neuroscience, 112, 1236-1246, 1998.
Floody, O. R., Cooper, T. T. and Albers, H. E., Intracranial oxytocin increases ultrasound rate in female hamsters, Peptides, 19, 833-839, 1998.
Imondi, R. L. and Floody, O. R., Separation of septal influences on lordosis, ultrasound production and body weight, Physiology and Behavior, 63, 481-488, 1998.
Bartholomew, M. B. and Floody, O. R., Hypothalamic grafts induce the recovery of lordosis in female hamsters with lesions of the ventromedial hypothalamus, Hormones and Behavior, 32, 192-200, 1997.
Floody, O. R., Cuts between the septum and preoptic area increase ultrasound production, lordosis and body weight in female hamsters, Physiology and Behavior, 54, 383-392, 1993.
Floody, O. R., Dissociation of hypothalamic effects on ultrasound production and copulation, Physiology and Behavior, 46, 299-307, 1989.
Floody, O. R., Lateralized effects on hamster lordosis of unilateral hormonal and somatosensory stimuli, Brain Research Bulletin, 22, 745-749 1989.
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