How Sex Hormones Shape the Male & Female Brain | Sarah E. Hill & David Puts | #18

You've been told the pill and the hormonal IUD act "locally," that they barely touch the rest of you. What if science says almost the opposite? Most of us treat hormones as background chemistry for periods and pregnancy, when they are really broadcast signals traveling everywhere blood goes, switching genes on and off in the brain, the muscles, and far beyond the reproductive organs.In this episode of The XX Lab, Dr. Sarah Hill sits down with Dr. David Puts, evolutionary anthropologist and neuroendocrinology researcher at Penn State, to explore what hormones actually are, how they shape the brain before birth, the myth of "locally acting" hormones, what the menstrual cycle does to attraction, and how the birth control pill nudges desire and partner choice.KEY TAKEAWAYS:- Hormones act by binding a receptor that regulates gene expression, changing what a cell makes.- A purely "locally acting" hormone does not hold up; if it reaches the bloodstream, it travels.- Most women on the hormonal IUD stop ovulating, evidence the hormone reaches systemic levels.- Sex hormones shape the brain, not only the reproductive organs, from before birth.- CAH and IHH serve as natural experiments for studying prenatal hormone effects on behavior.- The "masculine voices when fertile" preference is weaker and less consistent than popular science suggests.Timestamps00:00 Why Men And Women Are So Different08:43 What Hormones Actually Do In Your Body11:07 Is There Really A Locally Acting Hormone13:55 What Sex Hormones Do Besides Reproduction18:00 How Hormones Shape The Developing Brain33:55 CAH And IHH: Nature's Hormone Experiments40:09 What The Menstrual Cycle Does To Attraction49:45 How The Pill Changes Attraction And Libido57:32 How Low Estrogen Affects Attraction01:11:52 What Anogenital Distance Reveals About You01:19:13 Does Puberty Rewire The Brain01:25:25 Why Disease Hits Men And Women Differently01:33:10 Why We Choose Mates With Good Genes02:10:52 Why Honest Science Matters More Than HypeGuest BioExplore David Puts’ research, publications, and academic work: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/David-PutsGoogle Scholar:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=fZ_ZqrMAAAAJ&hl=en***Take the science with you. Listen to The XX Lab wherever you get your podcasts:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033nA7tJ87p4TaT8C5t7MV?si=167a0d966568499eApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-xx-lab/id1896818171The Period Brain: the new science of why we PMS and PMDD, and how to feel your best all month long  https://www.amazon.com/Period-Brain-Science-Manifesto-Women/dp/0063382474This Is Your Brain on Birth Control: how the pill shapes mood, attraction, and behavior in ways most women are never toldhttps://www.amazon.com/This-Your-Brain-Birth-Control/dp/0525536035