Sexual dimorphism in neural structure and function

神经结构和功能的性别二态性

• 批准号: 194522-2010
• 负责人: Watson, Neil
• 金额: $ 5.17万
• 依托单位: Simon Fraser University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=569793
• 关键词: Sexual; dimorphism; neural; structure; function

Like the rest of the body, the nervous system takes on a male or female form and function due to the actions of sex hormones. Exploring these differences helps us learn about how the nervous system functions, specializes and remodels itself. To study the reciprocal relationships between hormones, the nervous system, and behaviour, we ask three basic questions: (1) How do sex hormones act on neural structures to cause them to take on male or female form? We are focusing on several model systems to address this question, especially the Spinal Nucleus of the Bulbocavernosus (SNB), and parts of the brainstem and cerebellum, that we have previously linked to masculine sexual behaviour and the actions of the sex hormone testosterone on nerve cells. In particular, we will be focusing on the role of androgen receptors in establishing a male-typical caudal ventral medulla system for reproductive behaviour, and on the effects of the plasticizer Bisphenol A in disrupting this system. (2) How do androgens like testosterone change the behavior of lab animals and humans? Here, we will examine the effects of Bisphenol A on a variety of behaviours that are normally different between male and female rats, ranging from spatial cognition to mating. We are also studying the role of androgens in the ultrasonic vocalizations that are an important social signal in rats. (3) Reversing the relationship, how do behaviours and social cues alter sex hormones? Turning mostly to humans, we are interested in how ecologically-important environmental cues - like dominance competitions, relationships, or reproductive opportunities - provoke a change in testosterone release in men and women. Presumably, this mechanism is an ancient adaptation that coordinates physiology and neural mechanisms with environmental opportunities. And lastly, we have been studying the effects of pregnancy on cognition, as pregnancy is a sort of natural experiment involving large fluctuations in sex hormones. Having found a surprising fetal-sex effect on maternal cognition, we are now investigating possible mechanisms by which fetuses affect their mothers' cognitive abilities, possibly through the actions of understudied hormones called lutropins.

像身体的其他部分一样，由于性激素的作用，神经系统呈现出男性或女性的形式和功能。探索这些差异有助于我们了解神经系统的功能、专业化和自我重塑。为了研究激素、神经系统和行为之间的相互关系，我们提出了三个基本问题：(1)性激素如何作用于神经结构，使它们呈现男性或女性的形态？我们正在关注几个模型系统来解决这个问题，特别是球海绵体的脊髓核（SNB），以及脑干和小脑的部分，我们之前将其与男性性行为和性激素睾酮对神经细胞的作用联系起来。特别是，我们将重点关注雄激素受体在建立男性典型的尾侧腹侧髓质生殖行为系统中的作用，以及增塑剂双酚a在破坏该系统中的作用。(2)睾酮等雄激素如何改变实验动物和人类的行为？在这里，我们将研究双酚A对雌雄大鼠之间通常不同的各种行为的影响，从空间认知到交配。我们也在研究雄激素在超声发声中的作用，这是大鼠重要的社会信号。(3)相反，行为和社会暗示如何改变性激素？主要针对人类，我们感兴趣的是生态上重要的环境线索——如优势竞争、关系或繁殖机会——如何引起男性和女性睾酮释放的变化。据推测，这种机制是一种古老的适应机制，它协调生理和神经机制与环境机会。最后，我们一直在研究怀孕对认知的影响，因为怀孕是一种自然实验，涉及性激素的大幅波动。在发现了胎儿性别对母亲认知的惊人影响后，我们现在正在研究胎儿影响母亲认知能力的可能机制，可能是通过一种被称为lutropins的激素的作用。