Although classically known as an endocrine signal produced by the ovary, 17β-estradiol (E
2) is also a neurosteroid produced in neurons and astrocytes in the brain of many different …

Neuroactive steroids synthesized in neuronal tissue, referred to as neurosteroids, are
implicated in proliferation, differentiation, activity and survival of nerve cells. Neurosteroids …

Animals evaluate and respond to their social environment with adaptive decisions.
Revealing the neural mechanisms of such decisions is a major goal in biology. We analyzed …

Research into the lives of animals in their natural environments has revealed a rich tapestry
of complex social relationships and previously unsuspected social and mating systems. The …

The voices of birds have always been a source of fascination. Nature's Music brings together
some of the world's experts on birdsong, to review the advances that have taken place in our …

After the chicken, the House Sparrow is the most widely distributed bird species in the world,
occurring on all continents except Antarctica and on most human-inhabited islands …

Estrogens exert a wide variety of actions on reproductive and non-reproductive functions.
These effects are mediated by slow and long lasting genomic as well as rapid and transient …

In songbirds, aromatase (estrogen synthase) activity and mRNA are readily detectable in the
brain. This neural aromatization presumably provides estrogen to steroid‐sensitive targets …

It is currently accepted that most sex differences in brain and behavior do not result from
direct genomic actions, but develop following early exposure to a sexually differentiated …

Seasonal changes in the brain of songbirds are one of the most dramatic examples of
naturally occuring neuroplasticity that have been described in any vertebrate species. In …