Berkley K J
Dept of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee 32306-1051.
Trends Neurosci. 1992 Sep;15(9):331-2. doi: 10.1016/0166-2236(92)90048-d.
Hormonal effects are increasingly recognized as important influences on neuronal function and, ultimately, on animal behavior. Such 'higher' behavioral effects are well studied, particularly in relation to sexually dimorphic behaviors. Yet, somewhat surprisingly, a significant proportion of more basic neuroscience research papers fail to specify the sex of the subjects used. In this brief article Karen Berkley argues that knowledge of, and controlling for, the sex of research animals is important. In addition, if females are used, their reproductive-cycle status could provide a deliberate strategy to investigate the effects of gonadal steroid hormones on biological functions.
激素效应日益被视为对神经元功能乃至动物行为的重要影响因素。这类“更高级”的行为效应已得到充分研究，尤其是与两性异形行为相关的研究。然而，颇为令人惊讶的是，相当一部分更为基础的神经科学研究论文并未明确所使用实验对象的性别。在这篇简短的文章中，凯伦·伯克利认为了解并控制实验动物的性别很重要。此外，如果使用雌性动物，其生殖周期状态可为研究性腺类固醇激素对生物学功能的影响提供一种有意为之的策略。
