Oral contraceptives modify the menstrual cycle. What’s less well known is that they also reach the brain, particularly the regions important for regulating emotions.
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Articles on Sex hormones
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Climate change is causing higher levels of stress in fish, and the resulting hormonal imbalances are fundamentally altering entire populations.
At the most basic level, the brain releases a cocktail of chemicals. But there’s more to it than that.
New legislative proposals want to allow ‘sex testing’ of girl athletes through genital exams and genetic and hormone testing.
So-called “puberty blockers” work by temporarily suppressing the action of a specific hormone in the body.
Female moles evolved to have high testosterone levels, making them fiercer diggers and mothers. Female hyenas share this trait, but it means they must give birth through a male-like phallus.
Just under one in six Australian women have PCOS but some are being diagnosed when they don’t meet the criteria.
When teenagers sleep for less than eight hours a night, they are at increased risk of suicide, being overweight, high rates of injury, poor sustained attention and low school grades.
Disorders affecting penis development are among the most common birth defects seen in humans, and rates are on the rise.
Gender differences in jobs and attitudes are wider in countries with more equality, but that’s not the end of the story.
Medicinal chemists are tweaking a natural molecule that can be a deadly poison – a modified version might work as a nonhormonal male contraceptive.
Having a newborn can be rough, whether you’re a mom or a dad. New research ties men’s testosterone to their postpartum depression – with some surprising upsides for their partners.
Here’s what research actually says about differences between males and females – and the question of what’s innate and what’s acquired.
Women have evolved to have stronger immunity than men. But this comes with downsides -
women are more likely to have autoimmune diseases due to their “reactive” immune systems.
An active sex life can promote love and togetherness, drive creativity and build better health.
“Love drugs” have their risks, but are also potentially liberating, so people must be free to make their own choices about what works best for them.
The MHRA has opened an inquiry on the once popular pregnancy test pills. Did they really cause birth defects in children born in the 1970s?
Sleep allows many of our hormones to replenish so we have the optimal energy, immunity, appetite and coping ability to face the day’s highs and lows.
Top contributors
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Visiting Professor in Biomedical Ethics, Murdoch Children's Research Institute; Distinguished Visiting Professor in Law, University of Melbourne; Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics, University of Oxford
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Clinical Professorial Research Fellow, The University of Queensland
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NHMRC Principal Research Fellow, University of Sydney
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Jenny Graves is a Friend of The Conversation.
Distinguished Professor of Genetics and Vice Chancellor's Fellow, La Trobe University
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Research Fellow / Health Psychologist, Swinburne University of Technology
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Professor in Developmental Biology, University of Aberdeen
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Professor of Psychology; Faculty Fellow Institute for Policy Research; Professor of Management and Organizations, Northwestern University
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Senior research fellow, University of Sydney
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Senior Research Fellow, The University of Queensland
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Professor of Psychology, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
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Professor, Molecular Immunology, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
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Senior research scientist, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
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Professor, School of Nursing, University of British Columbia
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Merck Serono Senior Lecturer in Reproductive Biology, The University of Melbourne
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Associate Professor, The University of Queensland
