Endocrine Abstracts

During vertebrate evolution thyroid hormone acquired multiple roles in development, especially brain development. Examples include promotion of myelination thereby increasing speed of neuronal transmission, as well as modulation of neuronal differentiation, as exemplified by the exquisite sensitivity of the Purkinje neuron to thyroid hormone deficiency. Research in the last 15 years has demonstrated that early development, the first trimester of pregnancy in humans, is an unex...