Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 31 May 1985:
Vol. 228. no. 4703, pp. 1112 - 1115
DOI: 10.1126/science.3992248
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Science, Vol 228, Issue 4703, 1112-1115
Copyright © 1985 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

A sexually dimorphic nucleus in the human brain

DF Swaab and E Fliers

A sexually dimorphic cell group is described in the preoptic area of the human hypothalamus. Morphometric analysis revealed that the volume of this nucleus is 2.5 +/- 0.6 times (mean +/- standard error of the mean) as large in men as in women, and contains 2.2 +/- 0.5 times as many cells. Between the ages of 10 and 93 years, the nucleus decreases greatly in volume and in cell number. Although no function has yet been established for this nucleus, it is located within an area that is essential for gonadotropin release and sexual behavior in other mammals.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
A sex difference in the hypothalamic uncinate nucleus: relationship to gender identity.
A. Garcia-Falgueras and D. F. Swaab (2008)
Brain 131, 3132-3146
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Male-to-Female Transsexuals Show Sex-Atypical Hypothalamus Activation When Smelling Odorous Steroids.
H. Berglund, P. Lindstrom, C. Dhejne-Helmy, and I. Savic (2008)
Cereb Cortex 18, 1900-1908
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Changing your sex changes your brain: influences of testosterone and estrogen on adult human brain structure.
H. E H. Pol, P. T Cohen-Kettenis, N. E M Van Haren, J. S Peper, R. G H Brans, W. Cahn, H. G Schnack, L. J G Gooren, and R. S Kahn (2006)
Eur. J. Endocrinol. 155, S107-S114
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Brain response to putative pheromones in lesbian women.
H. Berglund, P. Lindstrom, and I. Savic (2006)
PNAS 103, 8269-8274
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Neuroimaging findings with MDMA/ecstasy: technical aspects, conceptual issues and future prospects.
L. Reneman, M. M. L. de Win, W. van den Brink, J. Booij, and G. J. den Heeten (2006)
J Psychopharmacol 20, 164-175
   Abstract »    PDF »
Brain response to putative pheromones in homosexual men.
I. Savic, H. Berglund, and P. Lindstrom (2005)
PNAS 102, 7356-7361
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Brain Aromatase: Dyed-in-the-Wool Homosexuality.
J. A. Morris, K. L. Gobrogge, C. L. Jordan, and S. M. Breedlove (2004)
Endocrinology 145, 475-477
   Full Text »    PDF »
Sex, Gender and Culture: Issues in the Definition, Assessment and Treatment of Gender Identity Disorder.
L. K. Newman (2002)
Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry 7, 352-359
   Abstract »    PDF »
Sexual Differentiation of the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis in Humans May Extend into Adulthood.
W. C. J. Chung, G. J. De Vries, and D. F. Swaab (2002)
J. Neurosci. 22, 1027-1033
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Normal Sexual Dimorphism of the Adult Human Brain Assessed by In Vivo Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
J. M. Goldstein, L. J. Seidman, N. J. Horton, N. Makris, D. N. Kennedy, V. S. Caviness Jr, S. V. Faraone, and M. T. Tsuang (2001)
Cereb Cortex 11, 490-497
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Sex Differences in Androgen Receptors of the Human Mamillary Bodies Are Related to Endocrine Status Rather Than to Sexual Orientation or Transsexuality.
F. P. M. Kruijver, A. Fernández-Guasti, M. Fodor, E. M. Kraan, and D. F. Swaab (2001)
J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 86, 818-827
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Male-to-Female Transsexuals Have Female Neuron Numbers in a Limbic Nucleus.
F. P. M. Kruijver, J.-N. Zhou, C. W. Pool, M. A. Hofman, L. J. G. Gooren, and D. F. Swaab (2000)
J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 85, 2034-2041
   Abstract »    Full Text »
A brain sexual dimorphism controlled by adult circulating androgens.
B. M. Cooke, G. Tabibnia, and S. M. Breedlove (1999)
PNAS 96, 7538-7540
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Normal Development of the Pituitary Gland: Assessment with Three-dimensional MR Volumetry.
K. Takano, H. Utsunomiya, H. Ono, M. Ohfu, and M. Okazaki (1999)
AJNR Am. J. Neuroradiol. 20, 312-315
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Gender Differences in the Human Cerebral Cortex: More Neurons in Males; More Processes in Females.
T. Rabinowicz, D. E. Dean, J. McDonald-Comber Petetot, and G. M. de Courten-Myers (1999)
J Child Neurol 14, 98-107
   Abstract »    PDF »
Sex Differences in the Striatal Dopamine D2 Receptor Binding Characteristics in Vivo.
T. Pohjalainen, J. O. Rinne, K. Någren, E. SyvÄlahti, and J. Hietala (1998)
Am J Psychiatry 155, 768-773
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Effects of Pesticides and Toxic Substances On Behavioral and Morphological Reproductive Development: Endocrine Versus Nonendocrine Mechanisms.
L. E. Gray JR and J. Ostby (1998)
Toxicology and Industrial Health 14, 159-184
   Abstract »    PDF »
Sex Reassignment at Birth: Long-term Review and Clinical Implications.
M. Diamond and H. K. Sigmundson (1997)
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 151, 298-304
   Abstract »    PDF »
Genetic and Cytogenetic Intersex Anomalies: Can They Help Us to Understand Gender Differences in Deviant Behavior?.
A. Walsh (1995)
Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol 39, 151-166
   Abstract »    PDF »
Human Sexual Orientation: The Biologic Theories Reappraised.
W. Byne and B. Parsons (1993)
Arch Gen Psychiatry 50, 228-239
   Abstract »    PDF »
A difference in hypothalamic structure between heterosexual and homosexual men.
S LeVay (1991)
Science 253, 1034-1037
   Abstract »    PDF »
Contributions of bird studies to biology.
M Konishi, S. Emlen, R. Ricklefs, and J. Wingfield (1989)
Science 246, 465-472
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)