Early in his career, Pfaff developed techniques to discover both estrogen and androgen receptors in rat brains.[4][5] Within 15 years, it was clear that the limbic/hypothalamic system he discovered in rat brains was universal among vertebrate brains as well.[6]
His laboratory worked out the first nerve cell circuit for a mammalian behavior, discovered hormone-sensitive genes in the brain; and integrated these findings to show how specific gene expression in a small part of the brain can regulate behavior.[7] Pfaff also discovered that the nerve cells which control all reproductive processes—neurons that express the gene for the peptide called gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)—are not born in the brain (as are most neurons), but in the nose, from which they migrate into the brain.[8][9]
Pfaff also formulated a concept of the fundamental brain processes, “generalized brain arousal” (GA), and studied the development of arousal-related neurons, their anatomy, and neurophysiology.[10]
Pfaff’s lab has published more than 900 research papers, and he has written or edited more than 25 books. Pfaff conceived and edited a comprehensive survey of neuroscience, Neuroscience in the 21st Century,[11] which was distributed electronically without cost, to colleges and medical schools in economically developing countries.[12] Among his books, Estrogens and Brain Function[13] united the fields of endocrinology and neuroscience. Drive[14] demonstrated the mechanisms for a simple reproductive behavior, and argued that the lessons learned informed our understanding of the physiological basis of libido. Brain Arousal and Information Theory[15] addressed the mechanisms that wake up the entire brain as well as their damping down by sleep, anesthesia or traumatic brain injury. The Altruistic Brain,[16] co-written with Dr. Sandra Sherman, argued that altruistic behavior can be considered as a natural neurophysiological phenomenon, and put forth an elegant theory of how such prosocial behaviors can be explained without reference to any unusual neural capacities. How the Vertebrate Brain Regulates Behavior; A Field Develops[17] offers Pfaff’s perspective on his more than fifty years in neuroscience.
He is a member of the Editorial Board for PNAS.[18]
^Plant, Tony M.; Zeleznik, Anthony J. (2014-12-30). Knobil and Neill's physiology of reproduction. Plant, T. M. (Tony M.), Zeleznik, Anthony,, Knobil, Ernst. (4th ed.). Amsterdam. ISBN9780123971753. OCLC897442559.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Pfaff, Donald W.; Volkow, Nora D. (2016-10-27). Neuroscience in the 21st Century : from basic to clinical. Pfaff, Donald W., 1939-, Volkow, Nora D., 1956- (Second ed.). New York, NY. ISBN978-1493934737. OCLC961912670.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Pfaff, Donald W. (1980). Estrogens and Brain Function : Neural Analysis of a Hormone-Controlled Mammalian Reproductive Behavior. New York, NY: Springer New York. ISBN978-1461380863. OCLC852790540.
^Pfaff, Donald W. (22 May 2017). How the vertebrate brain regulates behavior: Direct from the lab. Cambridge, Massachusetts. ISBN978-0674660311. OCLC959871694.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
