Brain aromatase in fish is an exciting research topic because of several unconventional features that challenge the established view based on studies in other vertebrates. First, the brain of teleost fish exhibits a high degree of aromatase activity, especially in sexually mature animals. Given the emerging roles of estrogens in neurogenesis, the unique features of the adult fish brain suggest that, in addition to classical functions on brain sexual differentiation and sexual behavior, aromatase expression in radial glial cells could be involved in the modulation of the high proliferative activity in the brain of fish.
