Aromatase+: Estrogen-producing Neurons Influence Aggression In Both Sexes

A miniscule cluster of estrogen-producing nerve cells in the mouse brain exerts highly specific effects on aggressive behavior in both males and females, according to new research. The cells in question, known as aromatase-expressing (aromatase+) cells, represent less than five one-hundredths of a percent of the neurons in the mouse brain, but they play crucial roles in sexual differentiation during early development and in regulating sexual and social behavior in adulthood. Though estrogen is generally thought of as a female sex hormone, during the 1970s it was discovered that the male sex hormone testosterone can be converted to estrogen in the brain by aromatase, an enzyme also found in many other mouse and human tissues. read more

Read the whole article on

More from