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Sexual Differentiation Of The Prefrontal Cortex In Humans: Examining Behavioural Sex Differences And The Modulatory Role Of Androgens, Kelly L. Evans

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Sex hormones are important factors in the establishment of sex differences in the brain and behaviour during the prenatal developmental period and during adulthood. One brain area that has received little attention with respect to the study of sex differences is the prefrontal cortex (PFC). The PFC is involved in cognitive functions not limited to working memory, reinforcement learning, and inhibitory control. Currently, our understanding of the hormonal modulation of the PFC by sex steroids is also limited. The overall objectives of the present thesis were: to test the hypothesis that select cognitive functions known to depend on the PFC …