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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Further Reading
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Hull, E.M., Normandin, J.J., Pfaff, D., Murphy, A.Z. (2016). Sexual Behavior. In: Pfaff, D., Volkow, N. (eds) Neuroscience in the 21st Century. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3474-4_77
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3474-4_77
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