Steroid Hormones And Brain Function

Steroid hormones are unique compounds in that they are active at the interface of peripheral endocrine events and neural mechanisms. Thus their effects present an important peripheral signaling system to alter brain function. This volume presents state-of-the-art and classical techniques for the study of steroid hormones and their receptors and their effects and actions. Comprehensive protocols included for the study of Steroid kinetics and metabolism Steroid receptors Molecular and cellular effects of steroids Steroid effects on integrated systems

Steroid Hormone Regulation of the Brain focuses on the advancement of knowledge of the properties of brain steroid receptors and steroid target nerve cells, including the actions of gonadal steroids, adrenocortical steroids, and androgenic steroids on the brain. The selection features the work of authors who have inspiringly conducted extensive studies on the action of steroid hormones. The book starts with discussions that point out that steroid hormones not only function through intracellular steroid receptors, but possibly through steroid membrane actions as well. Studies to support this claim are presented. As to the action of steroid hormones on presynaptic transmitter mechanisms, the book suggests that adrenocortical and gonadal steroids can create alterations in noradrenaline, adrenaline, and dopamine levels and turnover within the hypothalamus and preoptic area. The effects of catecholestrogens on the brain are also elaborated. A contribution to this paper stresses that estrogens have antidopaminergic action in the extrapyramidal system. This idea is identified through a series of behavioral experiments and measurements of the levels of striatal acetylcholine. This selection is recommended to scientists interested in studying the effect of hormones on the brain.

Hormones, Brain Function, and Behavior brings together the proceedings of a conference on neuroendocrinology held in May 1956 in New York. The papers explore selected aspects of hormone actions in relation to brain function and behavior and cover topics ranging from the effects of steroid hormones on the nervous system to the behavioral consequences of sex hormones and thyroid hormones. Serotonin, epinephrine, and their metabolites are also discussed in relation to experimental psychiatry. This monograph is comprised of 12 chapters and begins with an assessment of steroid hormones in relation to neuropsychiatric disorders, as well as the influence of adrenocortical steroids on brain function and metabolism. Subsequent chapters focus on the genetic and psychological determinants of sexual behavior patterns; the role of serotonin in mental disorders; the effect of thyroid hormones on appetite for alcohol and alcoholic beverages in rats; and the link between thyroid hormones and mental health. The biochemistry of serotonin and its physiological implications are also examined. This text will appeal to biologists, neuropharmacologists, neuropsychiatrists, and psychologists.

Neuroplasticity, Development, and Steroid Hormone Action explores the effects of steroid hormones on brain development, function, and aging and is a compilation of cutting-edge research of concern to the disciplines of neurobiology, neuroendocrinology, endocrinology, and developmental biology. The experimental approaches covered range from molecular to behavioral and endocrine to neurobiological. The authors are noted neurobiologists and active researchers from the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Divided into five sections and containing scientific photographs, line drawings, tables, color illustrations, and graphs, this interesting and timely text covers the neuroplastic effects of steroid hormones throughout the lifetime of various animal models, such as bees, fish, lizards, turtles, birds, mice, rats, and primates. These sections focus on: Ÿ The development and differentiation of neuroendocrine systems Ÿ Steroid dependent brain differentiation Ÿ The central regulation of hormone secretion Ÿ Steroid hormones and neuroplasticity in the mature brain Ÿ Steroid mediated mechanisms of cell growth and survival

This book brings together some of the results and ideas produced by a large number of people-colleagues and students with whom I am privileged to work in the laboratory at Rockefeller University. In terms of my personal history I see it as a confluence of creative forces persons from whom I have learned. I was instructed in neuroanatomy by Walle J. H. Nauta at M. I. T. , and later in a course at Harvard Medical School under the direction of Richard Sidman. At Harvard Medical School, where M. I. T. graduate students were allowed to cross register, the superb neurophysiology course was under the guiding spirit of Stephen Kuffler. Later, I benefited greatly from participating in his summer course in electrophysiological techniques at Woods Hole. Eric Kandel and his colleagues have provided us with the most exciting contemporary approach to the conceptualization and study of cellular mechanisms for behavior. Here at Rockefeller, Carl Pfaffmann and Neal Miller have been leaders in every sense of the word. Not only did they provide me with opportunities to grow to scientific maturity; they also set an example of clear thinking about mechanisms for mammalian behavior patterns. I wrote this book to show how the systematic use of increasingly detailed electrophysiological, neuroanatomical, and neuroendocrine tech niques can explain the mechanism for a mammalian behavioral response. The behavior in question happens to be sensitive to steroid hormones and plays a central role in reproduction.