Neil Greenberg received his doctorate from Rutgers University where he studied at both the Department of Zoology and the Institute of Animal Behavior. From work on reptile ethology at Rutgers, Greenberg moved to Paul D. MacLean's Laboratory of Brain Evolution and Behavior at the National Institute of Mental Health. While there he was also appointed a Research Associate at Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology. In 1978, Greenberg joined the faculty of the University of Tennessee. He is a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and enjoys adjunct faculty appointments in the Departments of Medicine and Psychology. Greenberg is also Chairman of the University Studies Program, a university-wide interdisciplinary faculty development program. Greenberg has had several principal investigator and co-principal investigator grants from NIH and NSF to conduct basic research on the neuroendocrine causes and consequences of social stress. Greenberg is also the architect and director of the Threshold Program, a major curriculum revision integrating hands-on research and teaching for honors students funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in 1995 with a seed grant of 1.4 million dollars. In 1999 co-chaired the Provost's Focus area in Intellectual and Cultural Expression (ICE), a 4 year program to foster interdisciplinary course development, research and creative activity, and grant development. In 1992, Greenberg was awarded the University Studies Scholar's Award, acknowledging excellence in transdisciplinary research and teaching. Two years later he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The citation of appointment reads, in part, ". . . for exemplary ethological research on the causes and consequences of social behavior and for innovative efforts to illuminate the relations between biology and the humanities." These diverse activities are unified by an appreciation for the power of interdisciplinary activities to foster personal growth within a culture of collaboration.
Theoretical Neurobiology
"THE NATURAL HISTORY OF TRUTH: The Neurobiology of Belief", Metanexus (2009)
The pursuit of truth is woven into the fabric of every organism*. Any estimate of...
Adaptive Functions of the Corpus Striatum: The Past and Future of the R-Complex, The Neuroethology of Paul MacLean: Frontiers and Convergences (2002)
The basal ganglia is emerging from the shadow cast by the most conspicuous clinical expression...
Neuroscience and Art
The Beasts in Our Brain, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Publications and Other Works (2007)
In the neuropsychology of art, we must remember that the Brain of Man has not...
Neuroscience and Education
The Biology of Reality Testing - Implications for Cognitive Education, International Association for Cognitive Education and Psychology (2010)
• This report explores the proposition that teaching effectiveness can be enhanced by accommodating the...
Physiological Ethology
Ethological Aspects of Stress in a Model Lizard, Anolis carolinensis, Inegrative & Comparative Biology (2002)
Research on the stress response in reptiles can provide a useful comparative perspective for understanding...
Ethological Causes and Consequences of the Stress Response (with James A. Carr and Cliff H. Summers), Integrative & Comparative Biology (2002)
Stress involves real or perceived changes within an organism or in the environment that activate...
Ethological Considerations in Experimental Study
Ethological Considerations in the Experimental Study of Lizard Behavior, Behavior and Neurology of Lizards (1978)
The importance of an ethological approach to the experimental study of an unfamiliar species is...
Research Protocols
The Saurian Psyche Revisted: Lizards in Research, The Care and Use of Amphibians, Reptiles, and Fish in Research (1992)
This essay is intended to guide researchers interested in lizards as prospective experimental models to...