**2.10 ER**β **and GABAA receptors as targets for androgens in brain**

Here we focus on two novel targets of androgens for trophic effects, estrogen receptor beta (ERβ) and GABAA receptors. Androgen metabolites act at a variety of targets to influence psychological (affective, cognitive) and physiological processes (prostate). High physiological androgens are associated with improved affective and cognitive performance; castration (gonadectomy- GDX) increases anxiety-like behavior, and detriments in their cognitive abilities and effects can be reversed with administration of T [9–14]. These studies using the typical approach assessed these effects in young male rodents (with comparable lifetime exposure to

**Figure 8.** *Receptor targets of androgens.*

androgens). Aged male rodents do not have improved cognitive or affective performance when administered T, compared to their younger counterparts; this effect was associated with a reduced capacity for producing 3α-diol [14]. 3α-diol may be similarly effective, if not more so, than administration of T alone for decreasing anxiety behavior of GDX rats [12, 13]. Blocking formation of 3α-diol through administration of indomethacin can reverse these beneficial effects of androgens on affect and cognition [12, 13, 15]. An important consideration in understanding the role androgens is their different mechanisms of action. See **Figure 8.**
