Adkins-Regan E, Watson J T
Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853.
Brain Res. 1990 Apr 30;514(2):320-6. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(90)91427-i.
Nissl-stained sections of adult male and female quail brains were examined for possible sex differences in the sizes of nuclei implicated in reproductive function or known to be dimorphic in songbirds, including nucleus magnocellularis preopticus, two additional preoptic nuclei, n. ventromedialis hypothalami, n. taeniae, n. hypoglossus and n. commissurae pallii. There was a significant sex difference in the volume of one of the preoptic nuclei (which was 38% larger in males), known to be a critical area for the hormonal activation of male copulatory behavior, which cannot be accounted for by overall brain size dimorphism. It is suggested that this nucleus be named nucleus preopticus medianus (POMn). There was no sex difference in the average neuronal density or cross-sectional soma area within POMn; rather, the male POMn consists of a greater total number of neurons than the female POMn. No other nuclei that were measured were dimorphic in volume, including n. hypoglossus. There was small but significant lateral asymmetry in n. commissurae pallii, the left side being about 10% larger in volume.
对成年雄性和雌性鹌鹑大脑的尼氏染色切片进行了检查，以探究与生殖功能相关或已知在鸣禽中具有两性异形的核团大小是否存在性别差异，这些核团包括视前大细胞核、另外两个视前核、下丘脑腹内侧核、带状核、舌下神经核和 pallii 连合核。在其中一个视前核的体积上存在显著的性别差异（雄性比雌性大38%），已知该区域是雄性交配行为激素激活的关键区域，这种差异不能用整体脑大小的两性异形来解释。建议将这个核团命名为视前正中核（POMn）。在POMn内，平均神经元密度或横截面积在性别上没有差异；相反，雄性POMn中的神经元总数比雌性POMn多。所测量的其他核团在体积上没有两性异形，包括舌下神经核。pallii连合核存在微小但显著的左右不对称，左侧体积大约大10%。
