Brainstorms October 15, 1997

Estrogen Makes the Brain a Sex Organ

J Clin Psychiatry 1997;58(10):421-422

Article Abstract

Is estrogen a sex hormone or a neurotransmitter? Estrogen has welldocumen- ted actions on several neurotransmitter systems, including serotonergic, adrenergic, and cholinergic pathways and receptors. However, recent advances from molecular neuroscience reveal that estrogen does not appear to act like a traditional neurotransmitter.