University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Critical Periods of Neurogenesis During Male to Female Sex Change in Clownfish

Craig, Sarah

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/114210

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Title
Critical Periods of Neurogenesis During Male to Female Sex Change in Clownfish
Author(s)
Craig, Sarah
Contributor(s)
Rhodes, Justin
Issue Date
2022
Keyword(s)
Psychology
Date of Ingest
2022-06-01T16:50:52Z
Abstract
Clownfish change sex from male to female as a normal part of their life history. This process involves a complete reorganization of the brain, behavior, morphology, sex hormone expression, and gonadal composition. Previous research suggested that during the process of sex change, more neurons appear in a part of the brain that controls the gonads, the preoptic area of the hypothalamus (POA), before the gonads change their composition and release female sex hormones. For my senior honors thesis, I conducted an experiment to identify the time course for neurogenesis and to determine whether there is a critical period for proliferation and survival of new neurons in the POA during the course of sex change. Outlined in pink is the POA of a clownfish in the midst of changing sex. Black dots indicate new cells appearing after the fish began to change sex, while the blue dots are pre-existing cells. Humans show a similar sexual dimorphism but the increase in neurons occurs during embryogenesis and has no known trigger. The clownfish may help uncover the mystery of how brain feminization unfolds without guidance from sex hormones.
Type of Resource
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  • Image
Language
eng
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/114210
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2022 Sarah Craig

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