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The Neurobiology of Childhood pp 79–108Cite as

Sensitive Periods for Hormonal Programming of the Brain

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Part of the book series: Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences ((CTBN,volume 16))

Abstract

During sensitive periods, information from the external and internal environment that occurs during particular phases of development is relayed to the brain to program neural development. Hormones play a central role in this process. In this review, we first discuss sexual differentiation of the brain as an example of hormonal programming. Using sexual differentiation, we define sensitive periods, review cellular and molecular processes that can explain their restricted temporal window, and discuss challenges in determining the precise timing of the temporal window. We then briefly review programming effects of other hormonal systems and discuss how programming of these systems interact with sexual differentiation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, PO Box 5030, Atlanta, GA, 30302-5030, USA

    Geert J. de Vries, Christopher T. Fields, Nicole V. Peters, Jack Whylings & Matthew J. Paul

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  1. Geert J. de Vries
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  2. Christopher T. Fields
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  3. Nicole V. Peters
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  4. Jack Whylings
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  5. Matthew J. Paul
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Correspondence to Geert J. de Vries .

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  1. McLean Hospital Harvard Medical School, Belmont, Massachusetts, USA

    Susan L. Andersen

  2. NIMH, Bethesda, USA

    Daniel S. Pine

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de Vries, G.J., Fields, C.T., Peters, N.V., Whylings, J., Paul, M.J. (2014). Sensitive Periods for Hormonal Programming of the Brain. In: Andersen, S., Pine, D. (eds) The Neurobiology of Childhood. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, vol 16. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/7854_2014_286

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