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Sexual Behavior

Neuroscience in the 21st Century

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Abstract

Sexual behaviors evolved to ensure the continuation of species. The sex hormones testosterone (T) and estrogen (E) are critical for both organizational effects on the genitals, body shape, and neural circuits during development and for activational effects on those same targets in puberty and adulthood. A gene on the Y chromosome, Sex determining Region on the Y chromosome (SRY) makes the undifferentiated gonads turn into testes, which then secrete T and müllerian inhibiting hormone (MIH). T is necessary for maturation of the internal and external genitalia in males, and MIH inhibits the development of the female internal reproductive tract. Without T and MIH, the body would be phenotypically female, guided by several genes on the X chromosome. In adulthood, E and T promote egg and sperm production and sexual behaviors. In both sexes, sensory input is directly or indirectly sent to critical brain areas in the hypothalamus, which act “downstream” to produce appropriate behaviors. Much of our information about neural circuits and genetics has come from studies on nonhuman animals.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

    E. M. Hull

  2. Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    J. J. Normandin & A. Z. Murphy

  3. Laboratory of Neurobiology and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA

    D. Pfaff

Authors
  1. E. M. Hull
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  2. J. J. Normandin
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  3. D. Pfaff
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  4. A. Z. Murphy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to E. M. Hull .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Rockefeller University Lab. Neurobiology & Behaviour, New York, NY, USA

    Donald W. Pfaff

  2. National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), Rockville, MD, USA

    Nora D. Volkow

  3. Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    John Rubenstein

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Hull, E.M., Normandin, J.J., Pfaff, D., Murphy, A.Z. (2021). Sexual Behavior. In: Pfaff, D.W., Volkow, N.D., Rubenstein, J. (eds) Neuroscience in the 21st Century. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6434-1_77-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6434-1_77-4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-6434-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6434-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Sexual Behavior
    Published:
    09 September 2022

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6434-1_77-5

  2. Sexual Behavior
    Published:
    25 June 2022

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6434-1_77-4

  3. Original

    Sexual Behavior
    Published:
    15 March 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6434-1_77-3

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