Abstract
Sex steroid hormones exert very complex effects on the brain. The neural circuitries which participate in neuroendocrine control of reproductive functions (especially gonadotropin secretion and sexual behaviors) are made under the direct control of gonadal steroids throughout life. The best documented of these is the long-loop feedback action of gonadal hormones on the neuroendocrine brain. In perinatal animals, sex steroids affect brain sexual differentiation to produce major sex differences in neuroendocrine and behavioral functions (Goy and McEwen, 1980; MacLusky and Naftolin, 1981). Recent studies indicate that aromatizable androgen or estrogen act on the developing brain tissues to promote neuronal growth and neural circuit formation (Toran-Allerand, 1976; Toran-Allerand et al., 1983). Synaptogenesis can be facilitated by estrogen (Matsumoto and Arai, 1976; Arai and Matsumoto, 1978; Nishizuka and Arai, 1981a). These organizational effects of gonadal steroids appear to be regionally specific and correlated with the presence and topographical localization of the sex steroid-receptor containing neurons.
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© 1987 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Arai, Y., Matsumoto, A., Nishizuka, M. (1987). Gonadal Steroid Control of Synaptogenesis in the Neuroendocrine Brain. In: Leung, P.C.K., Armstrong, D.T., Ruf, K.B., Moger, W.H., Friesen, H.G. (eds) Endocrinology and Physiology of Reproduction. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1971-7_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1971-7_2
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