Introduction

Steroid hormones play a crucial role in the development of the central nervous system and in neural and neuroendocrine functions such as the regulation of peptide hormone secretion, sexual behavior, neuroplasticity, and electrophysiology. This book presents the current status of our understanding of steroid hormone actions and their roles in developmental neuroendocrinology. As a prelude to the recent advances in this field presented in the following chapters, we will briefly give our perspective on the origins of the science of developmental neuroendocrinology, focusing on the study of sex differences in the brain.