This hypothesis was found after the organizational hypothesis to be true in some rodents. It proposes that androgens enter the brain and are converted to estrogens. Meaning, that estrogen is what masculines the developing nervous system.

Aromatization Hypothesis

This is a possible explanation for sexual differentiation. The idea is that a single androgen diffuses through all the tissues, and thus, masculinizing both the body and the brain. Androgens are required in development to organize the nervous system but also in adulthood to activate its full effects on behavior. 

Rutgers University

A permanent change in an individual's nervous system and behavior because of steroid exposure during development.

Organizational Effect

Breedlove, S. & Watson, N. (2017). Behavioral neuroscience, eighth edition. Oxford University Press.

Behavioral Neuroscience 8th Edition

An organizational effect is only effective during an organism's sensitive period. This length of time varies by species but is typically ranges from early development to the neonatal (newborn) period. For mammals, they experience a second sensitive period, known as puberty. 

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