Gonadal Hormone Involvement in Brain Activity

人们早就知道性腺类固醇激素会影响女性的行为。然而，这些激素产生行为影响的机制在很大程度上是未知的。有数据不符合类固醇激素作用的经典机制，即激素与细胞内受体结合并随后改变核基因转录。因此，包括贝克尔博士在内的研究人员假设了新的非基因组效应，以解决行为观察与改变基因转录所需时间之间的时间不一致。目前的研究超越了这一水平，探索类固醇激素在特定大脑区域的非基因组效应，并研究类固醇激素影响纹状体和伏隔体多巴胺能神经元活动的能力，以及这种经典的神经递质如何在这些区域起作用来调节女性的行为。此外，其他研究者发现纹状体多巴胺和γ -氨基丁酸在控制运动方面有很强的相互作用。从逻辑上讲，贝克尔博士将研究雌激素如何改变含有这些神经递质的神经元的活动，以及对依赖于运动的女性行为的直接影响。这些研究是令人兴奋和高度创新的。她们将彻底改变人们对女性行为的看法，以及她们这一代人所需要具备的素质。研究纹状体中含有多巴胺和γ -氨基丁酸的神经元之间的相互作用，可能为理解大脑突触前调节机制开辟新的途径，这不仅将影响神经内分泌学领域，而且可能揭示更多关于动物在自然栖息地的行为和触发雌性行为的关键线索。

9514888 Becker The gonadal steroid hormones have long been known to influence female behaviors. However, the mechanism by which these hormones generate their behavioral effects is largely unknown. There are data that do not conform to the classical mechanism for steroid hormone action, i.e. binding of hormone to intracellular receptors and subsequently altering nuclear gene transcription. Consequently, novel non-genomic effects have been postulated by investigators, including Dr. Becker, to resolve the temporal inconsistencies between the behavioral observations and the time required to alter gene transcription. The present research goes beyond this level to explore the non-genomic effects of the steroid hormones in specific brain regions and investigates the ability of steroid hormones to influence dopaminergic neuronal activity in the striatum and accumbens, and how this classical neurotransmitter acts in these areas to modulate female behavior. Moreover, other investigator have shown a strong interaction between striatal dopamine and gamma-aminobutyric acid in controlling movement. Logically, Dr. Becker will investigate how estrogen alters the activity of the neurons containing these neurotransmitters and the direct consequences on female behavior which is dependent on movement. These studies are exciting and highly innovative. They will revolutionize the thinking about female behaviors and the components required for their generation. Investigating the interaction of dopamine-and gamma-aminobutyric acid-containing neurons in the striatum may open new avenues for understanding presynaptic regulatory mechanisms in the brain, which will impact not only the neuroendocrinology field, but may also reveal more about the behavior of animals in their natural habitats and the critical cues that trigger female behaviors.