PSY 177 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Gonad, Seminal Vesicle, Fetus
31 May 2017
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Document Summary
Sex determination and sexual differentiation occur early in development. Sexual differentiation is the process by which individuals develop bodies and behaviors that are either male-like or female-like. In mammals, this process begins before birth and continues into adulthood. If the sperm that enters the egg has an y chromosome, the offspring is genetically male; if an x chromosome, the offspring is genetically female. Early in development, fetus has indifferent gonads (precursor glands to both testes and ovaries) Sry gene sex-determining region on the y chromosome is responsible for the development of testes. Sry gene = produces sry protein = indifferent gonad develops into testis. Without sry gene = no sry = ovary forms. Hormones secreted by gonads, mainly from the testes, direct sexual differentiation. The wolffian ducts and the m llerian ducts connect the indifferent gonads to the body wall. 5 -reductase is an enzyme that converts testosterone into the more powerful dihydrotestosterone (dht), necessary to form male genitalia.
