Department of Pharmacology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 685 W Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA.
Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA.
Biol Sex Differ. 2020 Jun 1;11(1):30. doi: 10.1186/s13293-020-00307-6.
The hippocampus is central to spatial learning and stress responsiveness, both of which differ in form and function in males versus females, yet precisely how the hippocampus contributes to these sex differences is largely unknown. In reproductively mature individuals, sex differences in the steroid hormone milieu undergirds many sex differences in hippocampal-related endpoints. However, there is also evidence for developmental programming of adult hippocampal function, with a central role for androgens as well as their aromatized byproduct, estrogens. These include sex differences in cell genesis, synapse formation, dendritic arborization, and excitatory/inhibitory balance. Enduring effects of steroid hormone modulation occur during two developmental epochs, the first being the classic perinatal critical period of sexual differentiation of the brain and the other being adolescence and the associated hormonal changes of puberty. The cellular mechanisms by which steroid hormones enduringly modify hippocampal form and function are poorly understood, but we here review what is known and highlight where attention should be focused.
海马体是空间学习和应激反应的核心，男性和女性的这两个方面在形式和功能上都有所不同，但海马体究竟如何促成这些性别差异在很大程度上尚不清楚。在生殖成熟的个体中，类固醇激素环境中的性别差异为许多与海马体相关的终点的性别差异提供了基础。然而，也有证据表明，成年海马体功能存在发育编程，雄激素及其芳香化产物雌激素起着核心作用。这些差异包括细胞发生、突触形成、树突分支和兴奋/抑制平衡方面的性别差异。类固醇激素调节的持久效应发生在两个发育时期，第一个是大脑性分化的经典围产期关键期，另一个是青春期及其相关的青春期荷尔蒙变化。类固醇激素持久地改变海马体形态和功能的细胞机制尚不清楚，但我们在此回顾了已知的知识，并强调了应该关注的重点。
