Abstract
A prime candidate for the mediation of sex hormone activity during the sexual differentiation of the brain seems to be the serotoninergic system. This chapter describes how serotonin may influence sexual differentiation and discusses the possible influence of the serotonin synthesis inhibitor pCPA on defeminization and masculinization of brain functions as well as the influence of the serotonin precursor L-tryptophan. The results show that the postnatal inhibition of serotonin synthesis neither stimulates nor inhibits the effects of postnatal testosterone propionate (TP) on either the pattern of gonadotropin release or the expression of male and female sexual behavior. Postnatal stimulation of serotonin synthesis, however, significantly inhibited the expression of male and female sexual behavior patterns, but it had no influence on the pattern of gonadotropin release. Increased availability of serotonin in TP-treated rats, due to the administration of L-tryptophan, interfered significantly with the differentiation both of male and female sexual behavior patterns. Thus, serotonin seems to have a similar inhibitory effect on the postnatal organization of male and female sexual behavior patterns as it has on activation in adulthood. However, the extent to which serotonin and testosterone interact during sexual differentiation of the brain remains uncertain.
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