Schwarz Jaclyn M, McCarthy Margaret M
Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA.
J Neurochem. 2008 Jun;105(5):1561-72. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-4159.2008.05384.x. Epub 2008 Apr 1.
Hormone exposure, including testosterone and its metabolite estradiol, induces a myriad of effects during a critical period of brain development that are necessary for brain sexual differentiation. Nuclear volume, neuronal morphology, and astrocyte complexity are examples of the wide range of effects by which testosterone and estradiol can induce permanent changes in the function of neurons for the purpose of reproduction in adulthood. This review will examine the multitude of mechanisms by which steroid hormones induce these permanent changes in brain structure and function. Elucidating how steroids alter brain development sheds light on how individual variation in neuronal phenotype is established during a critical period.
激素暴露,包括睾酮及其代谢产物雌二醇,在大脑发育的关键时期会引发无数效应,这些效应对于大脑的性别分化至关重要。核体积、神经元形态和星形胶质细胞复杂性是睾酮和雌二醇能够诱导神经元功能发生永久性变化的众多效应的例子,这些变化是为了成年后的繁殖目的。本综述将探讨类固醇激素诱导大脑结构和功能发生这些永久性变化的多种机制。阐明类固醇如何改变大脑发育有助于揭示在关键时期神经元表型的个体差异是如何形成的。