sex differences

Genomic investigation of sex-differential neurodevelopment and risk for autism

Sex hormone regulation of neural gene expression

Gonadal steroid hormones are the principal drivers of sex-variable biology in vertebrates. In the brain, estrogen (17β-estradiol) establishes neural sex differences in many species and modulates mood, behavior, and energy balance in adulthood. To understand the diverse effects of estradiol on the brain, we profiled the genomic binding of estrogen receptor alpha (ERα), providing the first picture of the neural actions of any gonadal hormone receptor. To relate ERα target genes to brain sex differences we assessed gene expression and chromatin accessibility in the posterior bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNSTp), a sexually dimorphic node in limbic circuitry that underlies sex-differential social behaviors such as aggression and parenting. In adult animals we observe that levels of ERα are predictive of the extent of sex-variable gene expression, and that these sex differences are a dynamic readout of acute hormonal state. In neonates we find that transient ERα recruitment at birth leads to persistent chromatin opening and male-biased gene expression, demonstrating a true epigenetic mechanism for brain sexual differentiation. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that sex differences in gene expression in the brain are a readout of state-dependent hormone receptor actions, rather than other factors such as sex chromosomes. We anticipate that the ERα targets we have found will contribute to established sex differences in the incidence and etiology of neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Hormonal control of brain sex differences

Sex Differences in Learning from Exploration

Sex-based modulation of cognitive processes could set the stage for individual differences in vulnerability to neuropsychiatric disorders. While value-based decision making processes in particular have been proposed to be influenced by sex differences, the overall correct performance in decision making tasks often show variable or minimal differences across sexes. Computational tools allow us to uncover latent variables that define different decision making approaches, even in animals with similar correct performance. Here, we quantify sex differences in mice in the latent variables underlying behavior in a classic value-based decision making task: a restless two-armed bandit. While male and female mice had similar accuracy, they achieved this performance via different patterns of exploration. Male mice tended to make more exploratory choices overall, largely because they appeared to get ‘stuck’ in exploration once they had started. Female mice tended to explore less but learned more quickly during exploration. Together, these results suggest that sex exerts stronger influences on decision making during periods of learning and exploration than during stable choices. Exploration during decision making is altered in people diagnosed with addictions, depression, and neurodevelopmental disabilities, pinpointing the neural mechanisms of exploration as a highly translational avenue for conferring sex-modulated vulnerability to neuropsychiatric diagnoses.

Sex, drugs, and bad choices: using rodent models to understand decision making

Nearly every aspect of life involves decisions between options that differ in both their expected rewards and the potential costs (such as delay to reward delivery or risk of harm) that accompany those rewards. The ability to choose adaptively when faced with such decisions is critical for well-being and overall quality of life. In neuropsychiatric conditions such as substance use disorders, however, decision making is often compromised, which can prolong and exacerbate their severity and co-morbidities. In this seminar, Dr. Setlow will discuss research in rodent models investigating behavioral and biological mechanisms of cost-benefit decision making. In particular, he will focus on factors (including sex) that contribute to differences in cost-benefit decision making across the population, how variability in decision making is related to substance use, and how substance use can produce long-lasting changes in decision preference.

Sex Differences in Addiction: lessons from animal models

Epigenetic regulation of brain and behavior by the estrous cycle

Targeting microglia to generate a human-relevant sexually dimorphic model of ASD

Sexual dimorphism of microglia

Sex differences in brain structure and function are of substantial scientific interest because of sex-related susceptibility to psychiatric and neurological disorders. Neuroinflammation is a common denominator of many of these diseases and thus microglia as the brain´s immunocompetent and instrumental cells has come into focus in sex specific studies. We and others show that male microglia are more frequent in specific brain areas and appear to have a higher potential to respond to stimuli, whereas female microglia seem to acquire a more “protective” phenotype.

Neurobiology of Social Behavior

Social interactions are central to the human experience, yet it is also one of the faculty of the brain that is the most impaired by mental illness. Similarly, social interactions are essential for animals to survive, reproduce, and raise their young. Over the years, my lab has attempted to decipher the unique characteristics of social recognition: what are the unique cues that trigger distinct social behaviors, what is the nature and identity of social behavior circuits, how is the function of these circuits different in males and females and how are they modulated by the animal physiological status? In this lecture, I will describe our recent progress in using genetic, imaging, molecular and behavioral approaches to understand how the brain controls specific social behaviors in both males and females, and how areas throughout the brain participate in the positive and negative controls of specific social interactions. I will also describe how new approaches of single cell transcriptomics have enabled us to uncover specific cell populations involved in distinct social behaviors and the basis of their activity modulation according to the animal state.

PROSTAGLANDIN EP3 RECEPTOR SIGNALLING AS A CONTRIBUTOR TO SEX DIFFERENCES IN STRESS-RELATED DISORDERS MEDIATED BY THE LOCUS COERULEUS

FENS Forum 2026

INVESTIGATING SEX DIFFERENCES IN THE HYPOTHALAMIC BRAIN CIRCUITRY OF STRESS USING GENOMIC TECHNOLOGIES

FENS Forum 2026

PRELIMINARY FINDINGS ON SEX DIFFERENCES IN ABNORMAL TAU PROTEIN PHOSPHORYLATION IN ALZHEIMER´S DISEASE PATIENTS

FENS Forum 2026

BIOLOGICAL SEX DIFFERENCES IN COGNITIVE FUNCTION AND UNDERLYING MECHANISMS

FENS Forum 2026

STUDY OF PERIPHERAL INFLAMMATION AND SEX DIFFERENCES IN COCAINE ADDICTION-LIKE BEHAVIOUR USING THE THREE-CRITERIA MODEL

FENS Forum 2026

UNTANGLING THE NEURAL MECHANISMS REGULATING SEX DIFFERENCES IN ALCOHOL USE DISORDERS

FENS Forum 2026

EXPLORING SEX DIFFERENCES IN THE BRAIN ANATOMY OF RHESUS MACAQUES

FENS Forum 2026

ARE THERE SEX DIFFERENCES IN COGNITIVE DECLINE, NEUROGENESIS, AND INFLAMMATION IN THE TG2576 MOUSE MODEL OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE?

FENS Forum 2026

HABITUATION AS A BEHAVIORAL PARAMETER TO MODELING SEX DIFFERENCES IN PARKINSON’S DISEASE PROGRESSION AND RECOVERY USING 6-OHDA

FENS Forum 2026

CSF MIR-124-3P LINKS DISEASE PROGRESSION, NEURONAL DAMAGE AND SEX DIFFERENCES IN MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

FENS Forum 2026

SEX DIFFERENCES IN THE NEURAL CIRCUITS DRIVING VISUALLY EVOKED AGGRESSION IN SIAMESE FIGHTING FISH

FENS Forum 2026

SEX DIFFERENCES IN HEDONIC FEEDING IN SPRAGUE-DAWLEY RATS WITH MOTHERS UNDERGOING A HIGH-FAT, HIGH-SUGAR DIET THROUGHOUT PREGNANCY AND LACTATION

FENS Forum 2026

UNRAVELING SEX DIFFERENCES IN THE GENETIC BASIS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA

FENS Forum 2026

ULTRASONIC VOCALISATIONS IN C57BL/6J MICE: AGE AND SEX DIFFERENCES ACROSS DIFFERENT SOCIAL CONTEXTS

FENS Forum 2026

FAMILY AND FRIENDS NETWORKS AND VERBAL EPISODIC MEMORY IN OLDER ADULTS: SEX DIFFERENCES IN ASSOCIATIONS WITH THE CORTISOL AWAKENING RESPONSE

FENS Forum 2026

SEX DIFFERENCES IN THE ACUTE EFFECT OF ASTROCYTE-DERIVED EXTRACELLULAR VESICLES ON THE HYPOTHALAMIC RESPONSE TO HIGH FAT DIET INTAKE

FENS Forum 2026

Amygdalar regulation of memory engrams in the hippocampus: Spotlight on sex differences

FENS Forum 2024

Role of the NPS system in fear extinction: Sex differences in emotional regulation in mice

FENS Forum 2024

Sex differences in nociceptor regeneration after burn injury

FENS Forum 2024

Hypothalamic gene expression following early life and acute stress exposure in adulthood: Focus on sex differences

FENS Forum 2024

Can the brain be taken as a whole when choosing housekeeping genes for studding sex differences?

How many short-term memories become long-term? Unveiling the answer through the study of sex differences

FENS Forum 2024

Sex differences in Autism Spectrum Disorder: a proteome analysis

Sex differences in behavioral and neurochemical effects of amphetamine modulated by vasopressin in the lateral septum

Sex differences in behavioral phenotype and markers of the unfolded protein response (UPR) pathway in a mouse model overexpressing human α-synuclein

Sex differences in chloride homeostasis of c-fiber primary afferents in the spinal cord dorsal horn

Sex differences in epigenetic mechanisms of opioids

Sex differences in motivated behavior: rodent models of effort-based decision-making for sweet reinforcers

Sex differences in a mouse Sensory Preconditioning task

Sex differences in neural representation of threat in ventral hippocampal and prefrontal cortical projections to nucleus accumbens

Investigating sex differences in the developing brain of mice using the Sex Chromosome Trisomy (SCT) mouse model

Neuroendocrine mechanisms governing sex differences in arcuate nucleus neurons signaling for prolactin release control

RNA-sequencing reveals treatment and sex differences in the brains of Letrozole-treated common marmosets (C. jacchus)

Strain and sex differences in anxiety and depression-like behavior following exposition to chronic mild stress in mice

Unravelling the role of histamine neurons in memory processes through chemogenetics silencing : potential sex differences