Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2008 Oct 10.
Published in final edited form as: J Neurochem. 2008 Apr 1;105(5):1561–1572. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-4159.2008.05384.x

Figure 1. The multiple processes of sexual differentiation.

Figure 1

Estradiol induces sexual differentiation of the male brain by two separate processes, masculinization and defeminization. Masculinization is the active process of inducing a neural circuit that allows for the expression of male sexual behavior in adulthood. Defeminization is also an active process to eliminate or obscure the capacity to express female sex behavior in adulthood. In the normal female, feminization occurs in the absence of estradiol exposure and is the process leading to the capacity to express female sex behavior in adulthood.