C. Kordon R.-C. Gaillard
Y. Christen (Eds.)

2005

Increased awareness over recent years of the role of peripheral hormones in neuronal processes has led to define a ‘humoral brain’ concept. Most lipophilic and some hydrophilic hormones, although not directly involved in cell to cell communication within the brain (with the noticeable exception of neurosteroids, which are synthetized in brain cells themselves), can selectively cross the blood-brain barrier and affect a wide array of neurophysiological parameters, as early differenciation of brain connections, secretion of growth factors, or neurotransmitter activity.