ReviewPhysiological reviews2008
Estradiol and the developing brain.
Review in Physiological reviews, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 417 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
417 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 886 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review of associations between hormone levels in hair and peripartum depression.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2025Pooled it
- Steroid hormone pathways, vitamin D and autism: a systematic review.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2023Pooled it
- Sex-specific differences in zebrafish brains.Biology of sex differences · 2022Pooled it
- Menstrual cycle phase affects alcohol impairment of working memory.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2025Trial
- The inhibitors of 17β-HSD10: are they any good?RSC chemical biology · 2026Review
- Male and female mice scent mark during social communication regardless of sexual motivation or partner identity.Cell reports · 2026Article
- From microbes to milestones: Gut bacterial abundances and functional pathways associate with neurodevelopment following preterm birth.Gut microbiology · 2026Article
- Synaptic, cellular, and circuit mechanisms underlying sex differences in behaviors.Biology of sex differences · 2026Review
- A transient sex-biased transcriptional program shapes early postnatal L2/3 neuron development.Biology of sex differences · 2026Article
- Network Analysis of Convergent and Specific Molecular Pathways of Nutraceuticals with Antioxidant and Neuroprotective Potential in Glaucoma.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Early life tributyltin exposure has long term physiological effects on the zebrafish (Danio rerio) visual system.Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Toxicology & pharmacology : CBP · 2026Article
- Menstrual cycle modulates the effect of BDNF Val66Met variant on category learning.Biology of sex differences · 2026Article
- From womb to words: the sex-specific interplay of fetal sex hormones and maternal mood on infant language development.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Article
- Using endocrine profiles to explore subgroups among transdiagnostic neurodiverse children and adolescents.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2025Article
- Comparative analysis of 105 datasets across species and tissues reveals differential transcriptomic responses to cannabinoids THC and CBD.Journal of cannabis research · 2025Article
- Cell line-specific estrogen responses uncover functional sex differences in murine macrophages.Biology of sex differences · 2025Article
- Prenatal betamethasone-postnatal N-methyl-D-aspartic acid model of spasms: Update on mechanisms and treatments.Epilepsia open · 2025Article
- Morphological Sex Reversal in the Sexually Dimorphic Nucleus of the Preoptic Area in the Hypothalamus Delineated by Calbindin D28k-Immunoreactive Cell Clusters in YActa histochemica et cytochemica · 2025Article
- A Case Report of Tissue Mosaicism in 45,X0/46,XY: Diagnostic Complexity in a Newborn with Ambiguous Genitalia.Reports (MDPI) · 2025Article
- Females in Psychedelic Research: A Perspective for Advancing Research and Practice.ACS pharmacology & translational science · 2025Review
357 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Estradiol is the most potent and ubiquitous member of a class of steroid hormones called estrogens. Fetuses and newborns are exposed to estradiol derived from their mother, their own gonads, and synthesized locally in their brains. Receptors for estradiol are nuclear transcription factors that regulate gene expression but also have actions at the membrane, including activation of signal transduction pathways. The developing brain expresses high levels of receptors for estradiol. The actions of estradiol on developing brain are generally permanent and range from establishment of sex differences to pervasive trophic and neuroprotective effects. Cellular end points mediated by estradiol include the following: 1) apoptosis, with estradiol preventing it in some regions but promoting it in others; 2) synaptogenesis, again estradiol promotes in some regions and inhibits in others; and 3) morphometry of neurons and astrocytes. Estradiol also impacts cellular physiology by modulating calcium handling, immediate-early-gene expression, and kinase activity. The specific mechanisms of estradiol action permanently impacting the brain are regionally specific and often involve neuronal/glial cross-talk. The introduction of endocrine disrupting compounds into the environment that mimic or alter the actions of estradiol has generated considerable concern, and the developing brain is a particularly sensitive target. Prostaglandins, glutamate, GABA, granulin, and focal adhesion kinase are among the signaling molecules co-opted by estradiol to differentiate male from female brains, but much remains to be learned. Only by understanding completely the mechanisms and impact of estradiol action on the developing brain can we also understand when these processes go awry.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.