Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) State University, Russia – MS Zoology 1983.

The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH – PhD Zoology 1997.

Current Projects / Research Interest
My overall research objective has been to study how natural selection is shaping animals' adaptations to life in highly variable and unpredictable environments and my current research is focused on cognitive adaptations. Animal cognition appears to be an evolutionary trait that has been shaped by natural selection along with behavioral, morphological, and physiological traits and thus it is important to study cognitive processes within the evolutionary framework. In my research on cognitive ecology, I combine behavioral ecology with experimental psychology, physiology and neurobiology to better understand both ultimate questions about cognitive function and proximate questions about the underlying mechanisms of cognitive traits. Proximate mechanisms can often mediate correlated suites of behaviors not all of which are necessarily beneficial and they can also serve as a constraint for particular behavioral traits. Thus, studying mechanisms underlying behavioral traits can provide a more complete understanding of the full range of costs and benefits associated with those traits. My research has been particularly focused on ecology, neuroethology and evolution of spatial memory. In order to understand memory and how it can affect fitness we need to understand the interactions between environment, memory and its underlying mechanisms. For most of my research, I use food-caching birds as a model. My recent research addressed the effects of social dominance, unpredictable food and nutritional conditions during early development on spatial memory, corticosterone and the hippocampus in food-caching birds. I am also interested in the effects of migratory behavior on memory and the hippocampus.

Selected Publications
Pravosudov, V. V. & Selvino de Kort. In Press. Is the western scrub-jay (Aphelocoma californica) really an underdog among food-caching corvids when it comes to hippocampal volume and food caching propensity? Brain, Behav. Evol.
Pravosudov, V. V. & Kitaysky, A. S. In Press. Effects of nutritional restrictions during post-hatching development on adrenocortical function in western scrub-jays (Aphelocoma californica). Gen. Comp. Endocrin.
Pravosudov, V. V., Lavenex, P., & Omanska, A. In Press. Nutritional deficits during early development affect hippocampal structure and spatial memory later in life. Behav. Neurosci.
Pravosudov, V. V. & Omanska, A. 2005. Dominance-related changes in spatial memory are associated with changes in hippocampal cell proliferation rates in mountain chickadees. J. Neurobiol., 62: 31-41.
Pravosudov, V. V. 2003. Long-term moderate elevation in corticosterone facilitates avian food caching behavior and enhances spatial memory. Proc. Royal Soc. London: Biol. Sci. 270: 2599-2604.
Pravosudov, V. V., Mendoza, S. P., & Clayton, N. S. 2003. The relationship between dominance, corticosterone, memory and food caching in mountain chickadees (Poecile gambeli). Horm. Behav. 44: 93-102.
Pravosudov, V. V. and Clayton, N. S. 2002. A test of the adaptive specialization hypothesis: population differences in caching, memory and the hippocampus in black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapilla). Behav. Neurosci., 116: 515-522.
Pravosudov, V. V., Kitaysky, A. S., Wingfield, J. C., and Clayton, N. S. 2001. Long-term unpredictable foraging conditions and physiological stress response in mountain chickadees (Poecile gambeli). Gen. Comp. Endocrin., 123: 324-331.
Pravosudov, V. V. and Lucas, J. R. 2001. A dynamic model of short-term energy management in small food-caching and non-caching birds. Behav. Ecol., 12: 207-218.
Pravosudov, V. V. and Clayton, N. S. 2001. Effects of demanding foraging conditions on cache retrieval accuracy in food caching mountain chickadees (Poecile gambeli). Proc. Royal Soc. London: Biol. Sci., 268: 363-368.
Pravosudov, V. V. and Lucas, J. R. 2000. The costs of being cool: a dynamic model of nocturnal hypothermia by small food-caching birds in winter. J. Avian Biol., 31: 463-472.
Pravosudov, V. V. and Lucas, J. R. 2000. The effect of social dominance on fattening and food caching behavior in Carolina chickadees. Anim. Behav., 60: 483-493.
Pravosudov, V. V., Grubb, T. C., Jr., Doherty, P.F., Jr., Bronson, C. L., Pravosudova, E. V., and Dolby, A. S. 1999. Social dominance and energy reserves in wintering woodland birds. Condor, 101: 880-884
Pravosudov, V. V. and Grubb, T. C., Jr. 1999. Effects of iter- and intra-specific dominance on vigilance in avian social groups. Auk, 116:241-246.
Pravosudov, V. V. and Grubb, T. C., Jr. 1998. Management of fat reserves in tufted titmice (Baeolophus bicolor) in relation to predation risk. Anim. Behav.,56:49-54.
Lahti, K., Koivula, K., Rytkonen, S., Mustonen, T., Welling, P., Pravosudov, V. V., and Orell, M. 1998. Social influences on food caching in willow tits: a field experiment. Behav. Ecol., 9: 122-129.
Pravosudov, V. V. and Grubb, T. C. Jr. 1997. Energy management in passerine birds during the non-breeding season: a review. Curr. Ornithol., 14:189-234.
Pravosudov, V. V. and Grubb, T. C., Jr. 1997. Management of fat reserves and food caches in tufted titmice (Parus bicolor) in relation to unpredictable food. Behav. Ecol., 8:332-339.
Grubb, T. C., Jr. and Pravosudov, V. V. 1994. Toward a general theory of energy management in wintering birds. J. Avian Biol. 26:255-260.
Pravosudov, V. V. 1986. Individual differences in foraging and storing behavior in Siberian tit Parus cinctus Bodd. and Willow tit Parus montanus Bald. Soviet J. Ecol., 4: 60-64 (in Russian).
Pravosudov, V. V. 1985. Search for and storage of food by Parus cinctus lapponicus and P. montanus borealis (Paridae). Zool. Zhurnal (Journal of Zoology) 64: 1036-1043 (in Russian).

Contact Information

University of Nevada, Reno
Biology Department m/s 314
Reno, NV 89557

email Vladimir Pravosudov

Office phone
775-784-1271
FAX number
775-784-1302

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