Sex and the developing brain / Margaret M. McCarthy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McCarthy, Margaret M., 1958- author.

Series:

Colloquium digital library of life sciences

Colloquium series on the developing brain ; # 1.

Developing brain ; # 1

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Brain--Sex differences.

Brain.

Developmental neurobiology.

Brain--Growth.

Sex Differentiation.

Brain--growth & development.

Medical Subjects:

Sex Differentiation.

Brain--growth & development.

Physical Description:

1 electronic text (ix, 99 pages) : illustrations.

Place of Publication:

San Rafael, Calif. (1537 Fourth Street, San Rafael, CA 94901 USA) : Morgan and Claypool, [2011]

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

The brains of males and females, men and women, are different--that is a fact. What is debated is how different and how important those differences are. Sex differences in the brain are determined by genetics, hormones, and experience, which in humans includes culture, society, and parental and peer expectations. The importance of nonbiological variables to sex differences in humans is paramount, making it difficult if not impossible to parse out those contributions that are truly biological. The study of animals provides us the opportunity to understand the magnitude and scope of biologically based sex differences in the brain and understanding the cellular mechanisms provides us insight into novel sources of brain plasticity. Many sex differences are established during a developmental sensitive window by differences in the hormonal milieu of males versus females. The neonatal testis produces large amounts of testosterone, which gains access to the brain and is further metabolized into active androgens and estrogens, which modify brain development. Major parameters that are influenced by hormones include neurogenesis, cell death, neurochemical phenotype, axonal and dendritic growth, and synaptogenesis. Variance in these parameters results in sex differences in the size of particular brain regions, the projections between brain regions, and the number and type of synapses within particular brain regions. The cellular mechanisms are both region and endpoint specific and invoke many surprising systems such as prostaglandins, endocannabinoids, and cell death proteins. By understanding when, why, and how sex differences in the brain are established, we may also learn the source of strong gender biases in the relative risk and severity of numerous neurological diseases and disorders of mental health, including but not limited to autism, dyslexia, attention deficit disorder, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, and major depressive disorder.

Contents:

[1] Introduction

[2] Sex determination versus sex differentiation

[3] Masculinization, feminization, and defeminization

[4] Steroid hormones are potent modulators of brain development

[5] Sex differences in the brain are established during a developmental sensitive window

Steroid levels in the developing brain

Organizational/activational hormone effects on the brain

[6] Sex differences in physiology and behavior are coordinated

Ovulation begins in the brain

Female sex behavior is coordinated with ovulation

Male physiology and behavior are not temporally constrained

Changes in the brain induced by steroids during development direct adult physiology and behavior

[7] Knockouts of the rule: mice with null mutations of steroid receptors, steroidogenic enzymes, and binding proteins

[8] Steroids influence multiple endpoints to organize the brain

Steroids organize the developing brain by altering cell survival

Steroids organize the brain by altering cell proliferation

Neuronal migration is not strongly regulated by steroids

Steroids regulate trophic factors and activity-dependent survival

Steroids impact on axonal projections, dendritic branching, and connections

Steroids organize the developing brain by altering synaptic connectivity

Steroids organize the developing brain by altering neurochemical phenotype

Vasopressin is a model of steroid-mediated sexual differentiation of the brain

Vasopressin demonstrates unique parameters associated with sexual differentiation of the brain

[9] Cellular mechanisms of steroid-mediated organization of the brain

Prostaglandins masculinize the preoptic area and sexual behavior

GABA induces sex differences in astrocytes in the arcuate nucleus

Glutamate release is critical to sex differences in synaptogenesis in the hypothalamus

Endocannabinoids mediate a sex difference in cell genesis in the developing amygdala

[10] Winged messengers: lessons from birds and flies

Sexual differentiation of the neural circuit for song in songbirds

Courtship and copulation in drosophila

[11] Sexual differentiation of the primate brain

[12] Sexual differentiation of the human brain

Androgen insensitivity syndrome

Estrogen receptor mutation and aromatase deficiency

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia

[13] Overcoming the hegemony of hormones: genes matter too

Epigenetics and the development of sex differences in the brain

[14] The value of understanding the effect of sex on the developing brain

[15] References.

Notes:

Part of: Colloquium digital library of life sciences.

Series from website.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 87-99).

ISBN:

9781615040612

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.