Neuroendocrinology: Animal Models and Problems of Human Sexuality

Abstract

The hypothesis has been advanced (Phoenix et al., 1959) that hormones present during early stages of development can determine the pattern of sexual behavior displayed by an individual as an adult. The basic position is that during a very restricted period of development (fetal in some mammals such as the guinea pig and monkey, larval in others such as the mouse and rat born incompletely differentiated) secretions from the XY gonad produce changes not only in the gonaducts and external genitalia, but also in the neural tissues mediating sexual behavior. For sexual behavior, at least two distinct behavioral systems are affected: (1) there is a facilitation or an augmentation of sexual responses normally characteristic of the genetic male, and (2) there is an inhibition or suppression of sexual responses normally characteristic of the genetic female.

This paper was presented at the conference, “Sex Research: Future Directions,” held at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York, June 5–9, 1974.