Developmental actions of neurosteroids in rodents: focus on allopregnanolone

Evidence obtained from animal models shows that physiological concentrations of neurosteroids, especially allopregnanolone, participate in the development of several brain structures in different temporal windows such as the early postnatal age or adolescence. The alteration of neurosteroid levels at these crucial stages of neurodevelopment promotes changes in brain maturation and in the behavioral responses depending on the functioning of these brain areas. In addition, perinatal stress can also alter brain maturation and behavior, possibly through altering cerebral neurosteroid concentrations. In light of this, the study of developmental neurosteroid alterations can be of great importance to a fuller knowledge of the nervous system maturation and the genesis of behavioral disorders. In the present article, the relations between developmental stress and neurosteroids, as well as the role of neurosteroids in brain maturation and behavior, are developed.