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Development of the Central Nervous System in Vertebrates pp 205–216Cite as

Androgen-Dependent Plasticity of a Neuromuscular System

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Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((NSSA,volume 234))

Abstract

The perineal muscles and their spinal motoneurons are sexually dimorphic in adult mammals. The onset of this sexual dimorphism underlies the production of sex specific behaviors. In fact, in male rats the bulbocavernosus (BC), the ischiocavernosus (IC) and the levator ani (LA) muscles attach to the penis and participate in copulatory reflexes such as erection. In adult female rats these muscles are atrophied (Cihak et al., 1970) and made up of few muscle fibers (Tobin and Joubert, 1988). The spinal motor nuclei innervating perineal muscles in the rat are located in the lumbosacral spinal cord (Schroeder, 1980), being the homologous of Onuf’s nucleus in man (Onuf, 1900). In males two distinct neuronal columns are recognizable: a dorsolateral one, generally for the IC, the external vesical sphincter and the external anal sphincter, and a dorsomedial one, for the BC and the LA muscles overall (Schroeder, 1980). In females, these motor nuclei are made up of fewer and smaller motoneurons, mostly innervating the nondimorphic anal and vesical sphincters (McKenna and Nadelhaft, 1986).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Anatomy and Physiology, University of Torino, Italy

    Cecilia Cracco & Alessandro Vercelli

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  1. Cecilia Cracco
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  2. Alessandro Vercelli
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York, USA

    S. C. Sharma

  2. Université Notre Dame de la Paix, Namur, Belgium

    A. M. Goffinet

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© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Cracco, C., Vercelli, A. (1992). Androgen-Dependent Plasticity of a Neuromuscular System. In: Sharma, S.C., Goffinet, A.M. (eds) Development of the Central Nervous System in Vertebrates. NATO ASI Series, vol 234. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3018-3_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3018-3_15

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-3018-3

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