Gonadal Hormones and Sexual Behavior

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses whether animal models of sexual behavior are applicable to the understanding of human sexual behavior. Development of reproductive capacity involves diverse activities—such as the formation of the male and female phenotypes during embryogenesis, sexual maturation, and the onset of gametogenesis at the time of puberty—and the acquisition of specific behavioral patterns, such as sexual drive and capacity for intercourse as well as patterned behavior. In all species including man, gonadal steroid hormones are involved in the conversion of the sexually indifferent embryo into the male phenotype, in sexual maturation of males and females during postnatal life, and in the development of a basic sexual drive at the time of sexual maturation. In many animal species, gonadal steroids also play a critical role in the development of the specific actions that characterize male and female reproductive behavior. It has been documented that a portion of the action of gonadal hormones in this regard is because of direct effects on the central nervous system. Steroid hormones act via a common intracellular molecular machinery involving a high-affinity receptor protein and the genetic machinery to exert their effects in such diverse tissues as external genitalia and brain.