The neuroendocrine action potential

a r t i c l e i n f o Animals are remarkably well equipped to respond to changes in their environment across different time scales and levels of biological organization. Here, I introduce a novel perspective that incorporates the three main processes the nervous system uses to integrate and process information: electrophysiological, genomic, and neuroendocrine action potentials. After discussing several examples of neuroendocrine action potentials, I lay out the commonalities of these temporally organized responses and how they might be interrelated with electrophysiological activity and genomic responses. This framework provides a novel outlook on longstanding questions in behavioral neuroendocrinology and suggests exciting new avenues for further research that will integrate across disciplines and levels of biological organization. Introduction Animals respond to changes in the social and physical environment with changes in the neural substrates underlying particular behavioral and physiological processes (Hofmann, 2003; Robinson et al., 2008). The remarkable plasticity associated with environmental and behavioral changes occurs at multiple time scales and at all levels of biological organization. Understanding the neural actions that govern these phenomena is a major goal in modern biology. Using several examples from the literature as well as my own work, I conceptualize the three main events the nervous system uses to integrate and process information: activity of excitable neuronal membranes, changes in gene expression, and neuroendocrine responses. This approach uncovers gaps in our understanding of neural and behavioral plasticity and suggests numerous exciting avenues for further research towards a more complete understanding