Androgen-induced neuroplasticity in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex

雄激素增强认知功能，有助于在许多脊椎动物中观察到认知行为的正常性别差异。这些影响是如何发生的仍不得而知。我们已经证明，雄激素给去势大鼠显著增加海马和前额叶皮质（PFC）神经元顶端树突棘上的突触密度。由于大脑这些区域的脊柱突触密度增加与学习和记忆有关，我们假设这种影响可能代表了类固醇对认知功能的积极作用的部分机制。

Androgens enhance cognitive function, contributing to the normal sex differences in cognitive behavior observed in many vertebrates. How these effects occur remains unknown. We have demonstrated that administration of androgens to castrated rats markedly increases the density of synapses on the apical dendritic spines of neurons in the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Since increased spine synapse density in these areas of the brain is associated with learning and memory, we hypothesize that this effect may represent part of the mechanism for the positive effects of the steroids on cognitive function.