Testosterone-dependent plasticity of avian forebrain neurons is not restricted to the song control system.

Full Abstract

Testosterone is acting on brain areas involved in the control of sexual behaviour, for example the preoptic area and the song system. We now demonstrate that it also affects other avian brain areas, as exemplified here by measurement of spine densities. Depletion of testosterone by castration or application of cyproterone acetate leads to a decrease in spine density in secondary sensory areas like lateral neo- and hyperstriatum and hyperstriatum accessorium and dorsale, or in associative areas such as the caudal archi- and neostriatum. We conclude that testosterone is acting directly on the spines, and suggest that the mechanism of spine density control by hormones may have arisen because of energy demands.

Author information

Author/s: Lieshoff, C (C); Pröve, E (E); Bischof, H J (HJ);

Affiliation: Lehrstuhl Verhaltensforschung, Universität Bielefeld, Germany.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Neuroreport (Neuroreport), published in ENGLAND. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2000-Aug; vol 11 (issue 11) : pp 2479-83

Dates: Created 2000/11/21; Completed 2001/01/04; Revised 2004/11/17;

PMID: 10943707, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.