Neuroplasticity, Development, and Steroid Hormone Action PDF

Preface

Since the early 1960s, there have been extensive interactions among neuroendocrinologists from the United States and Japan, studying steroid hormone action in the brain. In 1972, a U.S./Japan Symposium entitled: "Long-term Effects of Perinatal Hormone Administration in Mammals" was held in Tokyo, headed by Professors H. Bern and K. Takewaki. Since that time, few symposia combining neuroscientists from the U.S. and Japan have addressed such issues. Given the recent advances in molecular and cellular biology and neuroendocrinology, the organization of a bilateral symposium on the topic of neuroplasticity, development, and steroid hormone action was realized in the Fall of 2000.

This book represents the proceedings of a bilateral symposium of neuroscientists from the U.S. and Japan held in Honolulu, Hawaii in September, 2000. The chapters included in this book cover the development and differentiation of the neuroendocrine system (Chapters 1 through 6), steroid hormone mediated mechanisms of cell growth and survival (Chapters 7 through 11), the central regulation of hormone secretion, particularly in relation to gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Chapters 12 through 17), steroid hormones and neuroplasticity (Chapters 18 through 23), and sexual differentiation of the brain (Chapters 24 through 28). An introductory chapter by Professors S. Kawashima and R.A. Gorski traces the history of neuroendocrinology and development with emphasis on sexual differentiation of the brain, and interactions between U.S. and Japanese scientists.

The major goal of organizing a bilateral symposium of scientists from the U.S. and Japan was to encourage interactions and discussion in hopes of facilitating scientific exchange and promoting international collaborative efforts. We believe that this goal has been accomplished. The information presented in this book should be considered a work in progress. As each of these chapters points out, a wealth of information is waiting to be discovered in this field of research.