Sexually dimorphic nucleus
Encyclopedia
Sexually dimorphic nucleus (SDN) is a cluster of cells located in the preoptic area
of hypothalamus
of the brain that is believed to be related to sexual behavior in animals. The volume of SDN is significantly larger (about twice) in males than in females, caused mainly by greater cell number and larger cell size, in male SDN. SDN and its homologues widely exist in human, mammal and some other animal brains, including the third interstitial nucleus of the anterior hypothalamus (INAH3) in humans, ovine sexually dimorphic nucleus (oSDN) in the medial preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus (MPOA/AH) in sheep, sexually dimorphic nucleus in the preoptic area (SDN-POA) in rats, anterior hypothalamic nucleus (AHdc) in macaques, specific area in medial preoptic nucleus (POM) in quails, etc..
Sex differences in SDN caused by exposure to testosterone
The volume of SDN in medial preoptic area is modified by hormones, among which testosterone is proved to be of much importance. The larger volume of male SDN is correlated to the higher concentration of fetal testosterone level in males than in females. Also, there is evidence that testosterone acts during specific prenatal period to organize the development of aromatase
-expressing neurons into the male-typical SDN (testosterone is transformed to estrogen
by aromatase). The effect of testosterone is also reflected by the influence of fetal intrauterine position on the morphology of SDN-POA. Studies demonstrated that male rats which were gestated between two male fetuses (2M) have 2-fold larger SDN-POA volumes than those gestated between two female fetuses (2F). At the same time, the testosterone levels, as well as the 17β-estradiol (product of testosterone) levels, were found to be significantly larger in 2M males than in 2F males on gestation day 21 (testosterone can be transferred from adjacent male fetuses to the target rats). However, evidence fails to show any relationship between SDN volume and female fetal position.
Sex differences in the volume of SDN caused by apoptosis
According to some studies, the volume difference of SDN between males and females is related to apoptosis during early development after birth. In rats, central division of the medial preoptic nucleus (MPNc) is an important component of SDN-POA and evidence showed that the number of apoptotic cells within MPNc is greater in females than in males between postnatal day (PD) 7 and PD10. In MPNc, the levels of some proteins, which are related to apoptosis, were shown to be of significant difference between males and females. Such proteins include Bcl-2
and Bax. Bcl-2 is an antiapoptotic protein. The level of Bcl-2 in PD8 male rats is much higher than that in female rats of the same age, hence the number of apoptotic cells of MPNc in PD8 male rats is much lower than PD8 female rats. On the other hand, Bax, a proapoptotic protein, shows lower level in PD8 males than in PD8 females. Also, the number of active caspase-3-ir cells was observed to be greater in females than in males, indicating higher level of apoptosis in female MPNc.
Apoptosis also occurs in the anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPV), which is also a sexually dimorphic area and is located in the periventricular gray area at the rostral extreme of the third ventricle
. In contrast with SDN-POA, AVPV has larger size in females than in males. It is proved that Bcl-2 level in AVPV is higher whereas Bax level is lower in females than in males, just as being opposite of those in MPNc. As indicated in these two cases, apoptotic cell death plays a critical role in the formation of sexually dimorphic nucleus, and the apoptotic cell number within SDN negatively correlates with the volume of SDN between different sexes.
of SDN-POA) in gerbils produce severe disruptions of male copulatory behavior. Moreover, a study on medial preoptic nucleus (POM) (homologue of medial preoptic nucleus in rats) in quails showed that the activation of male copulatory behavior requires the aromaticity of androgen
(testosterone) into an estrogen (17β-estradiol). Like in SDN-POA, aromatase-expression neurons are a specific marker of the nuclear boundary of POM in quails. The intensity of male copulatory behavior is found to positively correlate with the number of the aromatase-expression neurons in the caudal part of POM.
Appetitive behaviors are also partly controlled by medial preoptic area as aromatase-knockout mice show deficits in sexual motivation. However, appetitive behaviors are disrupted by the lesions in rostral part rather than caudal part of medial preoptic area. Lesions of the rostral part of medial preoptic area also diminish preference for female by male rats. Furthermore, in vivo
dialysis experiments showed that the level of extracellular dopamine
in the mPOA increases as the sexual appetitive sequences progress. mPOA’s involvement in the control of appetitive sexual behaviors is also confirmed by pharmacological manipulations of the dopaminergic system in it. In rats, lesions to mPOA can eliminate the male copulatory behavior but can only diminish appetitive behavior, which suggests that some other parts of the brain, except for mPOA, are also responsible for sexually appetitive behavior.
s) being recorded. Female-oriented rams displayed significantly more mounts and ejaculations with ewes than with stimulus rams, whereas male-oriented rams showed the opposite. Then series of brain sections, including hypothalamic, temporal lobe
and diencephalon tissues, were imaged. Also, in situ hybridization
was conducted to examine the level of the expression of cytochrome P450 aromatase in these brain sections. The results showed that the volume of oSDN in female-oriented rams is approximately 2 times greater than that in male-oriented rams. The number of neurons within oSDN is significantly greater in male-oriented rams than in female-oriented rams, so it is with the mean length of the oSDN. But the neuron density is similar in both kinds of rams. In addition, aromatase mRNA levels are also tested, showing that the level of aromatase mRNA is significantly greater in female-oriented rams than male-oriented rams.
Other species have similar relationships between sexual preferences and the volume of SDN. For example, INAH3 in humans (homologue of oSDN) is significantly larger in heterosexual men than in homosexual men.
, which routinely court, mount (with pelvic thrust), compete for, and even prefer certain female sexual partners over certain males. The part of the brain examined is the anterior hypothalamic nucleus (AHdc), a homologue of SDN-POA. Comparison of the AHdc nucleus volumes between Japanese macaque and rhesus macaque (a closely related sister species of Japanese macaque) shows that there is no significant difference between the volume of AHdc in more male-typical macaques and that in female-typical macaques.
)-like repeat domain and its gene expression is regulated by estrogen. NELL2 is also known to play a neuroprotective role rat hippocampus neurons. When NELL2 synthesis is blocked by intracerebroventricular injection of antisense (AS) NELL2 oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) into neonatal male rat brains (postnatal day0-day5), the size of SDN-POA is decreased. Since volume of SDN is related to the level of testosterone, it is quite possible that the volume is finally due to the neuroprotective effect of estradiol which is produced from testosterone by aromatase. So the result that NELL2 blockage reduces the size of SDN-POA suggests that it probably has neuroprotective effect on SDN-POA.
Somatostatin
The sex-specific transcription of somatostatin gene coincides with the establishment of sex differences in SDN-POA. It is observed that somatostatin mRNA appears in the SDN-POA of both males and females. On postnatal day 8 through postnatal day 35, the area of somatostatin mRNA-positive cells was significantly larger in males than in females, with males attain the maximum size of that area on day15 before decrease whereas females show no changes. Eventually the expression of somatostatin mRNA shows no difference between sexes. It is possible that somatostatin is related to the estrogen-dependent organization of SDN-POA.
Fenitrothion
Fenitrothion is a kind of organophosphate
and it can affect the development of reproductive system
of male rats. Treatment with fenitrothion to male rats causes regression of androgen-dependent organ weights because fenitrothion is a potent competitive androgen receptor
antagonist. Its effect on SDN-POA is different between male rats and female rats. In male rats, prenatal exposure to fenitrothion causes significantly increase of the volume of SDN-POA; whereas, in female rats, prenatal exposure to fenitrothion causes significantly decrease of the volume of SDN-POA. One possible explanation is that fenitrothion can alter the activity of aromatase, which then alters the level of estrogens converted by it from androgens and finally alters the volume of SDN-POA.
Diethylstilbestrol
Diethylstilbestrol (DES) is a synthetic nonsteroidal estrogen and was widely used for preventing threatened abortion. DES also has effect on development of the reproductive system. Low dose of DES exhibits inhibitory effect on plasma testosterone concentration in male rats while promotes follicular maturation in female rats. Experiments were done to see the effects of DES on SDN-POA volume. It is demonstrated that DES treatment altered the volume of SDN-POA in females by increasing it, resulting in larger volume SDN than controlled females. However, low dose of DES did not change the volume of SDN-POA in male rats.
Morphine
Morphine can also alter the activities within the sexually dimorphic brain regions. Prenatal exposure to morphine increases copulatory behavior in male rats while decreases estrous behavior in female rats.
s within VMN while males have more somatic synapses within that region. In addition, the size of postsynaptic densities of axospinous and axosomatic synapses is sexually dimorphic, with males having larger density than females. Estrogen plays an important role in modulating the sexually dimorphic synaptic connectivity of VMN. Estradiol levels are high on proestrus rats and return to low levels on diestrus rats. The volume of cell bodies within VMN in proestrus
rats and male rats is larger than diestrus
rats. Also, proestrus rats have significantly higher synapse density in VMN than diestrus rats. Moreover, Gamma-aminobutyric acid
plays a role in VMN development such as sexual differentiation.
Preoptic area
The preoptic area is a region of the hypothalamus. According to the MeSH classification, it is considered part of the anterior hypothalamus. There are four nuclei in this region, according to Terminologia Anatomica .-Functions:The preoptic area is responsible for thermoregulation and receives...
of hypothalamus
Hypothalamus
The Hypothalamus is a portion of the brain that contains a number of small nuclei with a variety of functions...
of the brain that is believed to be related to sexual behavior in animals. The volume of SDN is significantly larger (about twice) in males than in females, caused mainly by greater cell number and larger cell size, in male SDN. SDN and its homologues widely exist in human, mammal and some other animal brains, including the third interstitial nucleus of the anterior hypothalamus (INAH3) in humans, ovine sexually dimorphic nucleus (oSDN) in the medial preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus (MPOA/AH) in sheep, sexually dimorphic nucleus in the preoptic area (SDN-POA) in rats, anterior hypothalamic nucleus (AHdc) in macaques, specific area in medial preoptic nucleus (POM) in quails, etc..
Sex differences in SDN caused by exposure to testosteroneTestosteroneTestosterone is a steroid hormone from the androgen group and is found in mammals, reptiles, birds, and other vertebrates. In mammals, testosterone is primarily secreted in the testes of males and the ovaries of females, although small amounts are also secreted by the adrenal glands...
(prenatal)
The volume of SDN in medial preoptic area is modified by hormones, among which testosterone is proved to be of much importance. The larger volume of male SDN is correlated to the higher concentration of fetal testosterone level in males than in females. Also, there is evidence that testosterone acts during specific prenatal period to organize the development of aromataseAromatase
Aromatase is an enzyme responsible for a key step in the biosynthesis of estrogens. It is a member of the cytochrome P450 superfamily , which are monooxygenases that catalyze many reactions involved in steroidogenesis. In particular, aromatase is responsible for the aromatization of androgens into...
-expressing neurons into the male-typical SDN (testosterone is transformed to estrogen
Estrogen
Estrogens , oestrogens , or œstrogens, are a group of compounds named for their importance in the estrous cycle of humans and other animals. They are the primary female sex hormones. Natural estrogens are steroid hormones, while some synthetic ones are non-steroidal...
by aromatase). The effect of testosterone is also reflected by the influence of fetal intrauterine position on the morphology of SDN-POA. Studies demonstrated that male rats which were gestated between two male fetuses (2M) have 2-fold larger SDN-POA volumes than those gestated between two female fetuses (2F). At the same time, the testosterone levels, as well as the 17β-estradiol (product of testosterone) levels, were found to be significantly larger in 2M males than in 2F males on gestation day 21 (testosterone can be transferred from adjacent male fetuses to the target rats). However, evidence fails to show any relationship between SDN volume and female fetal position.
Sex differences in the volume of SDN caused by apoptosisApoptosisApoptosis is the process of programmed cell death that may occur in multicellular organisms. Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes and death. These changes include blebbing, cell shrinkage, nuclear fragmentation, chromatin condensation, and chromosomal DNA fragmentation...
(postnatal)
According to some studies, the volume difference of SDN between males and females is related to apoptosis during early development after birth. In rats, central division of the medial preoptic nucleus (MPNc) is an important component of SDN-POA and evidence showed that the number of apoptotic cells within MPNc is greater in females than in males between postnatal day (PD) 7 and PD10. In MPNc, the levels of some proteins, which are related to apoptosis, were shown to be of significant difference between males and females. Such proteins include Bcl-2Bcl-2
Bcl-2 is the founding member of the Bcl-2 family of apoptosis regulator proteins encoded by the BCL2 gene. Bcl-2 derives its name from B-cell lymphoma 2, as it is the second member of a range of proteins initially described in chromosomal translocations involving chromosomes 14 and 18 in...
and Bax. Bcl-2 is an antiapoptotic protein. The level of Bcl-2 in PD8 male rats is much higher than that in female rats of the same age, hence the number of apoptotic cells of MPNc in PD8 male rats is much lower than PD8 female rats. On the other hand, Bax, a proapoptotic protein, shows lower level in PD8 males than in PD8 females. Also, the number of active caspase-3-ir cells was observed to be greater in females than in males, indicating higher level of apoptosis in female MPNc.
Apoptosis also occurs in the anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPV), which is also a sexually dimorphic area and is located in the periventricular gray area at the rostral extreme of the third ventricle
Third ventricle
The third ventricle is one of four connected fluid-filled cavities comprising the ventricular system within the human brain. It is a median cleft between the two thalami, and is filled with cerebrospinal fluid ....
. In contrast with SDN-POA, AVPV has larger size in females than in males. It is proved that Bcl-2 level in AVPV is higher whereas Bax level is lower in females than in males, just as being opposite of those in MPNc. As indicated in these two cases, apoptotic cell death plays a critical role in the formation of sexually dimorphic nucleus, and the apoptotic cell number within SDN negatively correlates with the volume of SDN between different sexes.
Role of SDN in controlling of male sexual behaviors
Male sexual behaviors can be divided into two phases: the appetitive phase, which contains highly variable sequence of behaviors such as attracting and courting, and the consummatory phase, during which highly stereotyped copulatory behaviors occur. The medial preoptic area of the brain is considered to control the expression of both male copulation and male appetitive sexual behavior. It is found that large lesions of SDN-POA severely disrupt copulatory behavior in rats. Also, cell-body lesions of SDA pars compacta (a homologueHomology (biology)
Homology forms the basis of organization for comparative biology. In 1843, Richard Owen defined homology as "the same organ in different animals under every variety of form and function". Organs as different as a bat's wing, a seal's flipper, a cat's paw and a human hand have a common underlying...
of SDN-POA) in gerbils produce severe disruptions of male copulatory behavior. Moreover, a study on medial preoptic nucleus (POM) (homologue of medial preoptic nucleus in rats) in quails showed that the activation of male copulatory behavior requires the aromaticity of androgen
Androgen
Androgen, also called androgenic hormone or testoid, is the generic term for any natural or synthetic compound, usually a steroid hormone, that stimulates or controls the development and maintenance of male characteristics in vertebrates by binding to androgen receptors...
(testosterone) into an estrogen (17β-estradiol). Like in SDN-POA, aromatase-expression neurons are a specific marker of the nuclear boundary of POM in quails. The intensity of male copulatory behavior is found to positively correlate with the number of the aromatase-expression neurons in the caudal part of POM.
Appetitive behaviors are also partly controlled by medial preoptic area as aromatase-knockout mice show deficits in sexual motivation. However, appetitive behaviors are disrupted by the lesions in rostral part rather than caudal part of medial preoptic area. Lesions of the rostral part of medial preoptic area also diminish preference for female by male rats. Furthermore, in vivo
In vivo
In vivo is experimentation using a whole, living organism as opposed to a partial or dead organism, or an in vitro controlled environment. Animal testing and clinical trials are two forms of in vivo research...
dialysis experiments showed that the level of extracellular dopamine
Dopamine
Dopamine is a catecholamine neurotransmitter present in a wide variety of animals, including both vertebrates and invertebrates. In the brain, this substituted phenethylamine functions as a neurotransmitter, activating the five known types of dopamine receptors—D1, D2, D3, D4, and D5—and their...
in the mPOA increases as the sexual appetitive sequences progress. mPOA’s involvement in the control of appetitive sexual behaviors is also confirmed by pharmacological manipulations of the dopaminergic system in it. In rats, lesions to mPOA can eliminate the male copulatory behavior but can only diminish appetitive behavior, which suggests that some other parts of the brain, except for mPOA, are also responsible for sexually appetitive behavior.
Role of SDN in male partner preference
Researches on the ovine sexually dimorphic nucleus (oSDN) in sheep demonstrate that the volume of oSDN varies with sexual partner preference in rams. (Volume of SDN in male-oriented rams is larger than female-oriented rams.) In nature, about 8% of rams prefer male partners instead of female partners (male-oriented rams). In one study conducted by Roselli, et al., 4 female-oriented rams and 9 male-oriented rams were exposed to 2 estrous ewes and 2 rams, with their sexual behaviors (mounts and ejaculationEjaculation
Ejaculation is the ejecting of semen from the male reproductory tract, and is usually accompanied by orgasm. It is usually the final stage and natural objective of male sexual stimulation, and an essential component of natural conception. In rare cases ejaculation occurs because of prostatic disease...
s) being recorded. Female-oriented rams displayed significantly more mounts and ejaculations with ewes than with stimulus rams, whereas male-oriented rams showed the opposite. Then series of brain sections, including hypothalamic, temporal lobe
Temporal lobe
The temporal lobe is a region of the cerebral cortex that is located beneath the Sylvian fissure on both cerebral hemispheres of the mammalian brain....
and diencephalon tissues, were imaged. Also, in situ hybridization
In situ hybridization
In situ hybridization is a type of hybridization that uses a labeled complementary DNA or RNA strand to localize a specific DNA or RNA sequence in a portion or section of tissue , or, if the tissue is small enough , in the entire tissue...
was conducted to examine the level of the expression of cytochrome P450 aromatase in these brain sections. The results showed that the volume of oSDN in female-oriented rams is approximately 2 times greater than that in male-oriented rams. The number of neurons within oSDN is significantly greater in male-oriented rams than in female-oriented rams, so it is with the mean length of the oSDN. But the neuron density is similar in both kinds of rams. In addition, aromatase mRNA levels are also tested, showing that the level of aromatase mRNA is significantly greater in female-oriented rams than male-oriented rams.
Other species have similar relationships between sexual preferences and the volume of SDN. For example, INAH3 in humans (homologue of oSDN) is significantly larger in heterosexual men than in homosexual men.
Damage of SDN and changes in sexual partner preferences in males
Bilateral damage to SDN in the medial preoptic area in male ferrets causes the change of males from male-typical preference to female-typical preference. Male ferrets which were sexually experienced and responded to female body odor, when treated by bilateral lesions to SDN, change to respond to male body odor. It is probable that SDN plays an important role in leading to mating and successful reproduction.Role of SDN in female partner preference
Although SDN is much related to sexual partner preferences in males, it does not show the same relationship to partner preferences in females. Evidence shows that SDN in medial preoptic area is not the prerequisite for the expression of male-typical sexual behaviour and sexual partner preferences in females. One piece of evidence comes from the study on female Japanese macaqueJapanese Macaque
The Japanese macaque , historically known as saru , but now known as Nihonzaru to distinguish it from other primates, is a terrestrial Old World monkey species native to Japan....
, which routinely court, mount (with pelvic thrust), compete for, and even prefer certain female sexual partners over certain males. The part of the brain examined is the anterior hypothalamic nucleus (AHdc), a homologue of SDN-POA. Comparison of the AHdc nucleus volumes between Japanese macaque and rhesus macaque (a closely related sister species of Japanese macaque) shows that there is no significant difference between the volume of AHdc in more male-typical macaques and that in female-typical macaques.
Role of SDN in Human Sexual Orientation
In 1991, LeVay published a study of 41 autopsies on 16 heterosexual men (HeM), 19 homosexual men (HoM), and 6 heterosexual women (HeW) that targeted the interstitial nuclei of the anterior hypothalamus (INAH) 1, 2, 3, and 4. He showed that there were no significant differences between the three group's INAH 1, 2, and 4, which prior research already showed. However, INAH 3 was 1.7 as large and had twice the neurons in HeM as HoM and HeW. This research linked an established sexually dimorphic area of the brain to hetero- and homosexual behavior in men.NELL2
NELL2 is a tissue-specific protein in the nervous system. It contains EGF (epidermal growth factorEpidermal growth factor
Epidermal growth factor or EGF is a growth factor that plays an important role in the regulation of cell growth, proliferation, and differentiation by binding to its receptor EGFR...
)-like repeat domain and its gene expression is regulated by estrogen. NELL2 is also known to play a neuroprotective role rat hippocampus neurons. When NELL2 synthesis is blocked by intracerebroventricular injection of antisense (AS) NELL2 oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) into neonatal male rat brains (postnatal day0-day5), the size of SDN-POA is decreased. Since volume of SDN is related to the level of testosterone, it is quite possible that the volume is finally due to the neuroprotective effect of estradiol which is produced from testosterone by aromatase. So the result that NELL2 blockage reduces the size of SDN-POA suggests that it probably has neuroprotective effect on SDN-POA.
SomatostatinSomatostatinSomatostatin is a peptide hormone that regulates the endocrine system and affects neurotransmission and cell proliferation via interaction with G-protein-coupled somatostatin receptors and inhibition of the release of numerous secondary hormones.Somatostatin...
The sex-specific transcription of somatostatin gene coincides with the establishment of sex differences in SDN-POA. It is observed that somatostatin mRNA appears in the SDN-POA of both males and females. On postnatal day 8 through postnatal day 35, the area of somatostatin mRNA-positive cells was significantly larger in males than in females, with males attain the maximum size of that area on day15 before decrease whereas females show no changes. Eventually the expression of somatostatin mRNA shows no difference between sexes. It is possible that somatostatin is related to the estrogen-dependent organization of SDN-POA.FenitrothionFenitrothionFenitrothion is a phosphorothioate insecticide....
Fenitrothion is a kind of organophosphateOrganophosphate
An organophosphate is the general name for esters of phosphoric acid. Phosphates are probably the most pervasive organophosphorus compounds. Many of the most important biochemicals are organophosphates, including DNA and RNA as well as many cofactors that are essential for life...
and it can affect the development of reproductive system
Reproductive system
The reproductive system or genital system is a system of organs within an organism which work together for the purpose of reproduction. Many non-living substances such as fluids, hormones, and pheromones are also important accessories to the reproductive system. Unlike most organ systems, the sexes...
of male rats. Treatment with fenitrothion to male rats causes regression of androgen-dependent organ weights because fenitrothion is a potent competitive androgen receptor
Androgen receptor
The androgen receptor , also known as NR3C4 , is a type of nuclear receptor that is activated by binding of either of the androgenic hormones testosterone or dihydrotestosterone in the cytoplasm and then translocating into the nucleus...
antagonist. Its effect on SDN-POA is different between male rats and female rats. In male rats, prenatal exposure to fenitrothion causes significantly increase of the volume of SDN-POA; whereas, in female rats, prenatal exposure to fenitrothion causes significantly decrease of the volume of SDN-POA. One possible explanation is that fenitrothion can alter the activity of aromatase, which then alters the level of estrogens converted by it from androgens and finally alters the volume of SDN-POA.
DiethylstilbestrolDiethylstilbestrolDiethylstilbestrol is a synthetic nonsteroidal estrogen that was first synthesized in 1938. Human exposure to DES occurred through diverse sources, such as dietary ingestion from supplemented cattle feed and medical treatment for certain conditions, including breast and prostate cancers...
(DES)
Diethylstilbestrol (DES) is a synthetic nonsteroidal estrogen and was widely used for preventing threatened abortion. DES also has effect on development of the reproductive system. Low dose of DES exhibits inhibitory effect on plasma testosterone concentration in male rats while promotes follicular maturation in female rats. Experiments were done to see the effects of DES on SDN-POA volume. It is demonstrated that DES treatment altered the volume of SDN-POA in females by increasing it, resulting in larger volume SDN than controlled females. However, low dose of DES did not change the volume of SDN-POA in male rats.MorphineMorphineMorphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
Morphine can also alter the activities within the sexually dimorphic brain regions. Prenatal exposure to morphine increases copulatory behavior in male rats while decreases estrous behavior in female rats.Other Sexually Dimorphic Areas in the Brain
Ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (VMN) has long been considered as a sexually dimorphic nucleus. It is an important region for regulating the sexual responses in female rodents. The neurons within VMN have significant estrogen-dependent functional and structural plasticity. The synaptic organization of the VMN is sexually dimorphic. Females have more dendrite chemical synapseSynapse
In the nervous system, a synapse is a structure that permits a neuron to pass an electrical or chemical signal to another cell...
s within VMN while males have more somatic synapses within that region. In addition, the size of postsynaptic densities of axospinous and axosomatic synapses is sexually dimorphic, with males having larger density than females. Estrogen plays an important role in modulating the sexually dimorphic synaptic connectivity of VMN. Estradiol levels are high on proestrus rats and return to low levels on diestrus rats. The volume of cell bodies within VMN in proestrus
Estrous cycle
The estrous cycle comprises the recurring physiologic changes that are induced by reproductive hormones in most mammalian placental females. Estrous cycles start after puberty in sexually mature females and are interrupted by anestrous phases or pregnancies...
rats and male rats is larger than diestrus
Estrous cycle
The estrous cycle comprises the recurring physiologic changes that are induced by reproductive hormones in most mammalian placental females. Estrous cycles start after puberty in sexually mature females and are interrupted by anestrous phases or pregnancies...
rats. Also, proestrus rats have significantly higher synapse density in VMN than diestrus rats. Moreover, Gamma-aminobutyric acid
Gabâ
Gabâ or gabaa, for the people in many parts of the Philippines), is the concept of a non-human and non-divine, imminent retribution. A sort of negative karma, it is generally seen as an evil effect on a person because of their wrongdoings or transgressions...
plays a role in VMN development such as sexual differentiation.