Sex hormones and emotional learning: implications for mood and cognitive disorders

Sex hormones significantly influence the brain, affecting not only developmental and reproductive processes but also mood and cognitive functions, including emotional learning and memory. Sex hormones are crucial in brain development and sexual differentiation and continue to impact physiological and psychological mechanisms throughout life.
A substantial body of research, encompassing both animal and human studies, has explored the relationship between sex hormones and emotional learning and memory, as well as their role in neuropsychiatric disorders. For example, low hormonal states during the estrous and menstrual cycles in female rats and women, respectively, have been linked to increased stress and fear responses. Similarly, low levels of estrogen and testosterone are associated with a heightened risk of depression and anxiety disorders. Recent studies have highlighted mechanisms such as sex hormone modulation of neurotransmitter systems and increased neuroplasticity, with estrogen shown to enhance serotonergic neurotransmission and promote synapse formation and neurogenesis, particularly in the hippocampus.

Despite these advances, further investigation is needed to fully understand the connections between sex hormones and psychopathology and to identify potential therapeutic targets.

This Research Topic aims to deepen our understanding of how fluctuations in sex hormones impact emotional learning and memory mechanisms, both in physiological and pathological contexts. The goal is to identify molecular targets for interventions that could advance translational neuroscience research, focusing on the influence of sex hormones on these cognitive processes. By exploring these mechanisms, the research seeks to uncover potential pathways for improved treatment outcomes in mood and cognitive disorders.

To gather further insights into the modulation of emotional learning and memory by sex hormones, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

- Effects of estrous cycle on striatal areas involved in learning and memory.
- Variability in dendritic spine density and plasticity during gonadal sex fluctuations.
- In vitro and in vivo testing at specific life stages and during hormonal fluctuations.
- Cellular and molecular mechanisms influenced by sex hormone modulation.
- Impact of the estrous cycle on cognitive processes and anxiety-related behaviors.
- Neurobiological bases of hormonal fluctuations exacerbating mood disorders.
- Neural mechanisms underlying anxiety and fear behaviors in neuropsychiatric diseases.
- Risks of anxiety and depression linked to hormone-dependent disorders.
- Brain circuitry changes due to unbalanced sex hormone fluctuations.
- Current hormone replacement therapies and their mechanisms of action.
- Testosterone levels in major depressive and bipolar disorders.
- Testosterone as a biomarker in mood disorders.
- Stress-related gut-brain axis mechanisms in emotional learning and memory.
- Target mechanisms and pathways for novel therapies or technologies.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Registered Report
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: learning, memory, sex hormones, hormonal fluctuation, PMDD, PCOS, brain circuitry, striatal area, cognitive functions, emotional learning, anxiety, depression, mood swings, dendritic spine dynamics, neuropsychiatric diseases

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.