Representing Sex in the Brain, One Module at a Time

• Published in: Neuron (Cambridge, Mass.) Mass.), 2014-04, Vol.82 (2), p.261-278
• Main Authors: Yang, Cindy F., Shah, Nirao M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aggressiveness; Animals; Behavior; Brain - cytology; Brain - physiology; Brain research; Females; Gender differences; Gene loci; Genetic engineering; Hormones; Humans; Males; Neural Pathways - physiology; Neurons - physiology; Pheromones; Sex Characteristics; Sexual Behavior - physiology; Sexual Behavior, Animal
• ISSN: 0896-6273; 1097-4199
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2014.03.029

Sexually dimorphic behaviors, qualitative or quantitative differences in behaviors between the sexes, result from the activity of a sexually differentiated nervous system. Sensory cues and sex hormones control the entire repertoire of sexually dimorphic behaviors, including those commonly thought to be charged with emotion such as courtship and aggression. Such overarching control mechanisms regulate distinct genes and neurons that in turn specify the display of these behaviors in a modular manner. How such modular control is transformed into cohesive internal states that correspond to sexually dimorphic behavior is poorly understood. We summarize current understanding of the neural circuit control of sexually dimorphic behaviors from several perspectives, including how neural circuits in general, and sexually dimorphic neurons in particular, can generate sexually dimorphic behaviors, and how molecular mechanisms and evolutionary constraints shape these behaviors. We propose that emergent themes such as the modular genetic and neural control of dimorphic behavior are broadly applicable to the neural control of other behaviors. Yang and Shah integrate classical work with contemporary molecular genetic and neural circuit manipulations to provide a framework for how neural circuits control sexually dimorphic behaviors and propose that a similar framework may also inform the study of other behaviors.