Steroid influences on brain maturation

描述(由申请人提供)：青春期被越来越多地认为是大脑成熟的一个重要但未被充分研究的时期。青春期前和成年雄性仓鼠对化学感觉和激素刺激的行为和生理反应不同，这表明大脑功能在青春期发生了根本变化。这一建议验证了青春期男性性行为发育是前脑交配回路神经解剖成熟的结果的假说。目的1检测青春期树突状突起的变化是否与青春期男性性行为的发育有关。青春期前男性未能通过适当的化学感觉和荷尔蒙启动来显示性行为，这也表明这些信号可能没有在介导性行为的大脑区域内整合和交流。目的2在青春期前和青春期后的男性中，测试Me的传出和传入神经元是否同样被化学感觉线索激活。对控制青春期大脑发育的过程有一个基本的了解，这为将来研究自我给药的类固醇、疾病状态或环境内分泌干扰物提供了及时的基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Puberty is increasingly recognized as an important yet understudied period of brain maturation. Prepubertal and adult male hamsters differ in behavioral and physiological responses to chemosensory and hormonal stimuli, suggesting that a fundamental change in brain function occurs during puberty. This proposal tests the hypothesis that development of male sexual behavior during puberty results from neuroanatomical maturation of the forebrain mating circuit. Aim 1 tests whether pubertal changes in dendritic elaboration are associated with the pubertal development of male sexual behavior. The failure of prepubertal males to show sexual behavior with the appropriate chemosensory and hormonal priming also suggests that these signals may not be integrated and communicated within brain regions mediating sexual behavior. Aim 2 tests whether efferent and afferent neurons of Me are activated by chemosensory cues similarly in prepubertal and postpubertal males. A basic understanding of the processes controlling pubertal brain development provides a timely foundation for future studies of self-administered steroids, disease states, or environmental endocrine disrupters.