Effects of Sex Hormones on Brain Development

Abstract

Sex steroid hormones play an important role in regulating plastic changes in neuronal structure and function throughout development and adulthood. There is a diversity of cellular mechanisms by which steroid hormones influence neural function, including metabolism to more active forms, modulation of function through traditional nuclear receptors, binding to membrane receptors, and activation of a variety of second messenger pathways. A wide variety of neural processes are influenced by sex steroid hormones, including neurogenesis, cell migration, growth of the neuronal cell body, dendritic growth, differentiation and synapse formation, synapse elimination, neuronal atrophy and apoptosis, neuropeptide expression, the expression of neurotransmitter receptors, and neuronal excitability. In many cases steroid hormones must be present both developmentally and in adulthood to elicit maximal effects on behavior.