Description
Hormones strongly influence and even “drive” certain primitive behaviours. In this book, the authors examine hormonal, neural and genetic mechanisms of reproductive, pain-sensing and pain-inhibitory systems. The authors show that there are remarkable neuroanatomical, biochemical, and functional overlaps among these systems. They consider sensory inputs triggering both classes of behaviours and focus on the role of sex hormones in modulating both forms of behaviour. Sex hormones acting in different regions of the brain not only energize reproductive behaviours but also modulate opioid-dependent pain-inhibitory pathways. The authors also summarize some intriguing gender differences in hormone actions and responsivity to pain. The clinical implications of this field of research are numerous and the book should therefore appeal to anyone interested in new ways of looking at behavioural dispositions as they are influenced by specific genetic, neural and hormonal states.
