Hormones and Brain Function

The International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology organized its second congress in Budapest between 1 and 3 July, 1971. The sudden death on the 27th of July, 1970, of Professor Max Reiss, the President of the Society, nearly caused a break in the preparation ofthe Congress, but with the invaluable help of Professor Donald H. Ford, Treasurer and Acting President, and Professor Francesca Brambilla, Secretary of the Society, the Organizing Committee surmounted the difficulties. The Organizing Committee of the Congress set out five main topics discussed in five sections by invited lecturers and collective papers by regis­ tered discussants. Technically, the Congress was organized by the Hungarian Physiological Society in cooperation with the Federation of Hungarian Medical Societies in the building of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Thanks to the generosity of the Medical Section of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences we are able to publish the Pro­ ceedings of the Congress by the Publishing House of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences jointly with Plenum Press, New York. The Congress was sponsored by the International Society of Psychoneuroendo­ crinology, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Hungarian Pharmaceutical Industry, the Factory of Electronic Measuring Instruments, the Upjohn Co., Kalamzoo, Michigan and the Wellcome Research Laboratory, Langley Court, Backenhom, Kent, England. On behalf of the Organizing Committee may I ex­ press our grateful thanks for their generous assistance which, despite many difficulties, made the successful organization of an international congress possible.

Opening address.- Max Reiss memorial lecture.- Section I Neonatal and ontogenetic aspects of neuroendocrinology.- Mechanisms of androgen induced masculine differentiation of the rat brain.- Sex hormone-dependent differentiation of the hypothalamus and sexuality.- The role of thyroid and adrenocortical hormones in the biochemical maturation of the rat brain.- Disturbances of myelination in neonatally thyroidectomized rat brains.- RNA synthesis in embryonic cerebellar explants cultured with estradiol.- Influence of corticosterone and ACTH on the postnatal development of learning and memory functions.- Section II Control, biosynthesis and release of pituitary hormones.- Interrelationships in the control of ACTH and TSH secretion.- Relationship of active avoidance learning to the pituitary-thyroid and pituitary-adrenocortical responses to cold exposure in the rat.- Foetal steroidogenesis.- On the location of the neural structures involved in the reserpine induced hypersecretion of ACTH.- Hypothalamic mechanisms controlling anterior pituitary functions.- Thyroxine binding to anterior pituitary proteins in vitro: correlation with anterior pituitary growth.- Hypophysiotropic hormones, cyclic AMP and anterior pituitary protein synthesis and release.- Psychoneuroendocrine interactions in a reflex ovulator.- Influence of synthetic TRF administration and hypothalamic stimulation upon the ultrastructure of thyrotrophs.- The effect of oestradiol on pituitary-adrenal function in intact and thyroidectomized rats.- Studies on the regulation of pituitary-adrenal-thyroid and gonadal functions in rats with hypothalamic lesions.- Effect of synthetic TSH-releasing factor (TRF) and of some TRF analogues on pituitary function.- Effect of hypothalamic deafferentations on puberty in the male rat.- Mechanisms controlling pituitary gonadotropin secretion in prepuberal rats.- The role of pineal principles in the control of ACTH secretion.- Effect of dehydrobenzperidol on pituitary-adrenal function.- Section III Psycho-pharmacological and neurochemical bases of drug actions.- Action of neurotropic drugs on the tropic functions of the pituitary.- Action of central cholinolytics and oestrogens on gonadotropic release after the destruction of amygdala in rats.- The role of brain monoamines in the susceptibility to seizures brought about by chemical and electrical stimulations.- Analgesia, tolerance and drug dependence.- Brain monoaminergic mechanisms and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activity.- Influence of some neurotropic drugs on the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal system after dexamethasone blockade.- Effect of chronic ethanol administration on adenyl cyclase and cyclic 3?,5?-nucleotide phosphodiesterase activities of mouse brain.- L-dopa: its action on sexual behaviour and brain monoamines of the rat.- Sexual behaviour after neonatal reserpine and pCPA treatment with comment about hypothalamic indole amines in the rat.- A comparison of chlorpromazine-induced extrapyramidal syndrome in male and female rats.- Section IV Hormonal influences on brain functions.- Accumulation of 3H-lysine in limbic and brainstem structures.- Facilitatory and inhibitory mesencephalic influence on gonadotropin release.- Correlated changes in gonadotropin release and electrical activity of the hypothalamus induced by electrical stimulation of the hippocampus in immature and mature rats.- Steroid sensitivity of the nervous system.- An evolutionary approach to the investigation of psychoneuro-endocrine functions.- The role of the posterior pituitary and its peptides on the maintenance of conditioned avoidance behaviour.- Correlations between the pituitary-adrenal function and the exploratory activity, learning behaviour and limbic functions.- Brain-endocrine interaction: are some effects of ACTH and adrenocortical hormones on neuroendocrine regulation and behaviour mediated via central catecholamine neurons?.- Pituitary-adrenocortical hormone influences on multiple units in the brainstem and forebrain structures.- Effect of septal lesions on adrenal cortical and medullary activity during stress.- Sexual motivation in the neonatally androgen-treated female rat.- Afferent brainstem pathways to hypothalamus and to limbic system in the rat.- Some physiologic aspects of emotional stress.- Section V Recent developments in clinical neuroendocrinology.- Endocrinological studies on periodic psychoses.- Endocrinological treatment of psychoses.- Longitudinal study of catecholamine metabolism in periodic catatonia.- Metabolism of androgenic steroids in human skin.- Secretion of LH and FSH during sleep in man.- Basal pituitary-gonadal function in impotency evaluated by blood testosterone and LH assays.