How hormones affect behavioral and neural development: Introduction to the special issue on "gonadal hormones and sex differences in behavior"
How hormones affect behavioral and neural development: Introduction to the special issue on "gonadal hormones and sex differences in behavior"
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DOI：
10.1080/87565649809540708
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发表时间：
1998-01-01
影响因子：
1.5
通讯作者：
Berenbaum, SA
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Berenbaum, SA
正如这期特刊中的文章所展示的那样，性腺激素对人类大脑和行为的发育有着强大的影响，就像其他物种一样。雄激素和雌激素都影响整个发育过程中的行为，从早期的产前生活到成年，如在几个物种中使用各种方法进行的研究所示。高水平的睾酮和其他雄激素在发育早期就已显示出促进男性典型特征的发育，并抑制女性典型特征的发育。其中一些作用被认为是由大脑中雄激素转化为雌二醇介导的。卵巢激素也被证明在女性典型特征的发育和维持中发挥重要作用，它们对大脑的影响似乎超出了产前和产后早期。然而，存在的激素的量和行为之间没有简单的关系。激素对行为的影响在行为或个体之间并不一致。变异已被证明与暴露的时间、有机体对激素的敏感性、所涉及的特定激素以及物理和社会环境的改变有关，尽管并非所有因素都在所有物种中进行了研究，而且许多因素没有直接在人类中进行研究。这期特刊中的文章也描述了试图识别调节激素对复杂人类行为影响的机制神经和基本行为。
As the articles in this special issue demonstrate, gonadal hormones have powerful effects on the development of the brain and behavior in human beings, as in other species. Both androgens and estrogens affect behavior throughout development, from early prenatal life through adulthood, as demonstrated in studies with a variety of methods in several species. High levels of testosterone and other androgens that are present early in development are shown to facilitate the development of male-typical characteristics, and to inhibit the development of female-typical characteristics. Some of these effects are suggested to be mediated by the conversion of androgen to estradiol in the brain. Ovarian hormones are also shown to play an important role in the development and maintenance of female-typical characteristics, and their effects on the brain appear to extend beyond the prenatal and early postnatal periods. Nevertheless, there are not simple relations between the amount of hormone present and behavior. Behavioral effects of hormones are not uniform across behaviors or across individuals. Variations have been shown to relate to the timing of exposure, the organism's sensitivity to the hormones, the specific hormone involved, and modification by the physical and social environment, although not all factors have been studied in all species, and many have not been studied directly in people. The articles in this special issue also describe attempts to identify the mechanisms-neural and basic behavioral-that mediate hormonal effects on complex human behaviors.