Why sex matters for neuroscience
Abstract
A rapidly burgeoning literature documents copious sex influences on brain anatomy, chemistry and function. This article highlights some of the more intriguing recent discoveries and their implications. Consideration of the effects of sex can help to explain seemingly contradictory findings. Research into sex influences is mandatory to fully understand a host of brain disorders with sex differences in their incidence and/or nature. The striking quantity and diversity of sex-related influences on brain function indicate that the still widespread assumption that sex influences are negligible cannot be justified, and probably retards progress in our field.
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Where Sex Meets Gender: How Sex and Gender Come Together to Cause Sex Differences in Mental Illness
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- Authors
- Cahill, L.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- Corresponding author
- Cahill, Larry
- Venue
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience
- Published
- 2006-05-10
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 477-484
- ISSN
- 1471-003X (ISSN-L)
- 1471-0048
- OpenAlex
- W2000567681
- Cited by
- 1,540
- References
- 98
- Citations by year
- 2026: 38 · 2025: 55 · 2024: 46 · 2023: 46 · 2022: 67 · 2021: 86 · 2020: 128 · 2019: 86 · 2018: 71 · 2017: 81 · 2016: 103 · 2015: 84 · 2014: 98 · 2013: 85 · 2012: 91
- FWCI
- 10.42
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature reviews. Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Sex and Gender in Healthcare
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Sexual Differentiation and Disorders
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic and Clinical Aspects of Sex Determination and Chromosomal Abnormalities
- Keywords
- sex differences, sex hormones, neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, brain function, sex differences in disease incidence, sex as a biological variable
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Brain, Female, Humans, Male, Memory, Neurosciences, Serotonin, Sex Factors, Maze Learning
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