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Steroid Hormone Interaction with Dendritic Spines: Implications for Neuropsychiatric Disease

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Dendritic Spines

Part of the book series: Advances in Neurobiology ((NEUROBIOL,volume 34))

Abstract

Dendritic spines, key sites for neural plasticity, are influenced by gonadal steroids. In this chapter, we review the effects of gonadal steroids on dendritic spine density in areas important to cognitive function, the hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. Most of these animal model studies investigated the effects of estrogen in females, but we also include more recent data on androgen effects in both males and females. The underlying genomic and non-genomic mechanisms related to gonadal steroid-induced spinogenesis are also reviewed. Subsequently, we discuss possible reasons for the observed sex differences in many neuropsychiatric diseases, which appear to be caused, in part, by aberrant synaptic connections that may involve dendritic spine pathology. Overall, knowledge concerning the regulation of dendritic spines by gonadal hormones has grown since the initial discoveries in the 1990s, and current research points to a potential role for aberrant spine functioning in many neuropsychiatric disorders.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hofstra Northwell School of Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies, Hempstead, NY, USA

    Maya Frankfurt

  2. Department of Science Education Zucker School of Medicine, 500 Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, USA

    Zeinab Nassrallah

  3. Department of Psychology, Hunter College, New York, NY, USA

    Victoria Luine

Authors
  1. Maya Frankfurt
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  2. Zeinab Nassrallah
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  3. Victoria Luine
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maya Frankfurt .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Basic Sciences/Physiology and Graduate Program in Biosciences, Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

    Alberto A. Rasia-Filho

  2. Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

    Maria Elisa Calcagnotto

  3. Institut für Anatomie und Zellbiologie, Universitatsmedizin Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

    Oliver von Bohlen und Halbach

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Frankfurt, M., Nassrallah, Z., Luine, V. (2023). Steroid Hormone Interaction with Dendritic Spines: Implications for Neuropsychiatric Disease. In: Rasia-Filho, A.A., Calcagnotto, M.E., von Bohlen und Halbach, O. (eds) Dendritic Spines. Advances in Neurobiology, vol 34. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36159-3_8

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