As the papers in this special issue demonstrate, gonadal hormones have powerful effects on the development of the brain and behavior in human beings, as in other species. Both androgens and estrogens affect behavior throughout development, from early prenatal life through adulthood, as demonstrated in studies with a variety of methods in several species. The articles also describe attempts to identify the mechanisms--neural and basic behavioral--that mediate hormonal effects on complex human behaviors. This issue testifies to the breadth and vitality of research into the ways that hormones affect the development of sex-typical behavior, and illustrates several important themes that have emerged in human psychoneuroendocrinology. First, it is now clear that hormones do affect human behavior, and the important questions relate to the mechanisms and details of hormone action. Second, there are many ways to study hormone effects on human behavior, and this issue describes these methods and their products. Third, traditional conceptions of hormone-behavior relations have generally stood the test of time, but recent developments have begun to reveal the complexity of these relations. Taken as a whole, the articles in this special issue are interesting and worthwhile reading in their own right, but they may also act to stimulate developmental neuropsychologists to consider hormones in their own studies.

Based on a large variety of experiments on both humans and animals, this volume presents novel conceptualizations of the organizing consequences of hormones throughout the lifespans of mammals.

Within the basic and clinical biomedical research community, there is increasing recognition that differences between males and females across the lifespan affect an individual's health, his/her development of disease, signs and symptoms of pathophysiology, and response to therapy. This book is intended as a resource for scientists, clinicians, and students of the nervous system and behavior- a trove of practical information about how to study sex differences in the brain as well as a discussion of what is already known on the topic.

It's obvious why only men develop prostate cancer and why only women get ovarian cancer. But it is not obvious why women are more likely to recover language ability after a stroke than men or why women are more apt to develop autoimmune diseases such as lupus. Sex differences in health throughout the lifespan have been documented. Exploring the Biological Contributions to Human Health begins to snap the pieces of the puzzle into place so that this knowledge can be used to improve health for both sexes. From behavior and cognition to metabolism and response to chemicals and infectious organisms, this book explores the health impact of sex (being male or female, according to reproductive organs and chromosomes) and gender (one's sense of self as male or female in society). Exploring the Biological Contributions to Human Health discusses basic biochemical differences in the cells of males and females and health variability between the sexes from conception throughout life. The book identifies key research needs and opportunities and addresses barriers to research. Exploring the Biological Contributions to Human Health will be important to health policy makers, basic, applied, and clinical researchers, educators, providers, and journalists-while being very accessible to interested lay readers.