Frontiers in neuroendocrinology
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Front Neuroendocrinol · Apr 2015
ReviewTranssynaptic trophic effects of steroid hormones in an avian model of adult brain plasticity.
The avian song control system provides an excellent model for studying transsynaptic trophic effects of steroid sex hormones. Seasonal changes in systemic testosterone (T) and its metabolites regulate plasticity of this system. ⋯ Androgen action on RA neurons increases their activity and this has a retrograde trophic effect on the addition of new neurons to HVC. The functional linkage of sex steroids to BDNF may be of adaptive value in regulating the trophic effects of the neurotrophin and coordinating circuit function in reproductively relevant contexts.