Host: The Physiological Society of Japan
Neuroendocrinology, during the last several decades, has elucidated brain effects on hormones and hormone effects on brain. Estrogenic effects on a specific reproductive behavior, lordosis, were analyzed in three steps: discovery of hormone receptors in brain, neuronal circuitry for this behavior, and estrogenic effects on gene expression (Estrogens and Brain Function, Springer-Verlag, 1980; Drive, MIT Press, 1999). This work proved that specific chemical reactions in specific parts of the brain regulate a specific mammalian behavior. Now we are studying the most primitive, fundamental function of the brain: generalized CNS arousal (Brain Arousal, Harvard Univ. Press, 2006). So far, we have defined four chemical routes by which generalized arousal influences sexual arousal and lordosis mechanisms: histamine, norepinephrine, opioid peptides and prostaglandin D. [J Physiol Sci. 2008;58 Suppl:S2]
