Exploring the Neuroanatomical Basis of Sexual Differentiation of Behavior

几种行为在成年雄性和雌性哺乳动物中差异表达，通常由出生后早期发育期间存在的类固醇激素水平调节。 大脑中的一些差异也与行为的性别差异有关，包括大脑部分特定核团（神经细胞簇）的数量和密度差异。 这些神经参数的变化表明，这些核团的传入和传出神经连接也需要变化。 该项目结合了激素治疗与定量神经解剖学来测试新生儿类固醇通过调节内侧视前核（MPN mag）大细胞部分神经元的数量，密度和相互连接的发展来调节男性性行为的假设，这涉及嗅觉驱动的男性性行为。 这项研究提供了一个独特的机会来澄清神经元差异在大脑性别二态结构中的功能作用，并将对未来的二态神经发生的分子研究非常重要，因此其影响将扩展到发育生物学。 此外，更广泛的影响促进了一名来自代表性不足群体的女研究员的研究，她积极参与增加少数民族学生在科学研究中的代表性。

Several behaviors are differentially expressed in male and female mammals as adults, typically regulated by the levels of steroid hormones that were present during early postnatal development. A number of differences in the brain also have been correlated with sex differences in behavior, including differences in numbers and density of particular nuclei (clusters of nerve cells) in parts of the brain. Changes in these neural parameters suggest that changes also are required in the afferent and efferent neural connections of these nuclei. This project combines hormonal treatments with quantitative neuroanatomy to test the hypothesis that neonatal steroids regulate male sexual behavior by regulating the development of the number, density, and interconnections of neurons in the magnocellular part of the medial preoptic nucleus (MPN mag), which is involved in olfactory-driven male sexual behavior. This study provides a unique opportunity to clarify functional roles of neuronal differences in sexually dimorphic structures in the brain, and will be important for future molecular studies underlying dimorphic neurogenesis, so the impact will extend to developmental biology. In addition, the broader impact promotes research by a woman investigator from an underrepresented group, who is actively involved in increasing the representation of minority students in scientific research.