Valerie Bolivar is director of the Mouse Behavioral Phenotype Analysis Core in the Division of Genetics at the New York State Department of Health’s Wadsworth Center.
Valerie Bolivar
Research scientist
New York State Department of Health
From this contributor
How variability among mouse strains can aid autism research
Researchers can convert the distinct genetic backgrounds of lab mice from a problem to an advantage, exploiting the differences to advance our understanding of autism.
How variability among mouse strains can aid autism research
By
Valerie Bolivar
21 March 2018 | 4 min read
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Hippocampus builds reputation as ‘general-purpose statistical learning machine’
New cross-species findings may help settle a long-standing debate about whether the hippocampus is required for passive learning.
Hippocampus builds reputation as ‘general-purpose statistical learning machine’
New cross-species findings may help settle a long-standing debate about whether the hippocampus is required for passive learning.
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Natalia Mesa
10 March 2026 | 5 min read
‘The Fox, the Shrew, and You: How Brains Evolved,’ an excerpt
In his new book, Rogier Mars provides a detailed account of animal and human brain evolution. In this excerpt from Chapter 1, he starts with the sea squirt—and why it needs the brain it eats after its larval stage.
‘The Fox, the Shrew, and You: How Brains Evolved,’ an excerpt
In his new book, Rogier Mars provides a detailed account of animal and human brain evolution. In this excerpt from Chapter 1, he starts with the sea squirt—and why it needs the brain it eats after its larval stage.
By
Rogier Mars
10 March 2026 | 6 min read