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Reproductive Aging and the Human Hypothalamus

  • Conference paper
Biology of Menopause

Part of the book series: Serono Symposia USA ((SERONOSYMP))

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Abstract

The goal of our laboratory in the 1990s has been to characterize the molecular events that occur in the human hypothalamus in response to menopause. Despite the major clinical significance of menopause on a growing proportion of our society, there have been few studies of the aging human hypothalamus. In addition, from a basic science perspective, menopause provides a unique opportunity to study hypothalamic control mechanisms in the human. Decades of animal research have also provided a rationale for focusing on specific hypothalamic systems and neuronal populations. Finally, the development of in situ hybridization technology has allowed the measurements of cellular levels of mRNAs in human postmortem material with the precision achieved in laboratory animals. As a result, we have been able to provide some of the first descriptions of changes in neuronal morphology and neuropeptide gene expression in the hypothalamus of postmenopausal women.

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Authors
  1. Naomi E. Rance
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  2. Ty W. Abel
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  3. Steve C. Danzer
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Biology of Aging Program, National Institute on Aging, Gateway Building, Suite 2C231, 20892-9205, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Francis L. Bellino Ph.D.

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© 2000 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.

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Rance, N.E., Abel, T.W., Danzer, S.C. (2000). Reproductive Aging and the Human Hypothalamus. In: Bellino, F.L. (eds) Biology of Menopause. Serono Symposia USA. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-21628-7_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-21628-7_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-9530-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-21628-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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