Sex Differences in the Brain: What Are They, What Aren’t They, and When Do They Matter?

[neuronline_admin]

Catherine Woolley, a neurobiology professor at Northwestern University, has studied gonadal steroid modulation of synaptic structure and function for more than 25 years. For most of that time, her work focused on the hippocampus of females and she intentionally avoided the issue of sex differences. But when her team’s experiments began to yield unexpected results that conflicted with the published literature, she suspected that they might have stumbled onto previously unknown sex differences. Like this accidental discovery of sex differences, little about Woolley’s career has gone according to a plan. She shares some stories to illustrate the unpredictable nature of career in science.

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[maya2]

I really enjoyed this fantastic discussion! Thanks for posting the audio from this event.

Also, I think it would be great to have a downloadable podcast version of these topics and others for podcast applications (or at least make it downloadable from the site). I know Nature Neuroscience and Cell have already moved this direction, so it would be awesome if SfN provided content like this, as well.

[delson]

Dear Aaron,

Thank you for taking the time to listen to this podcast, and for providing us with this insight. We wanted to share with you that SfN will have a new podcast series launching this summer, so stay tuned for updates! In the meantime, make sure you check back on Neuronline because we’ll be publishing more Meet-the-Expert podcast conversations over the next few months.

Sincerely,

Deborah Elson, Acting Neuronline Community Manager

[Deborah Zelinsky]

There is concussion research also coming out saying that women react differently from men. I believe that there is also differences that would be found among the LGBTQ community. It seems as though neurochemically speaking there would be differences.

[sp1]

I agree with you, in the sense that within a subset of the LGBTQ community the ratio of gonadal hormones might be different than in a heterosexual male or female, but not across the board. It seems, when examining or controlling for sex differences, an important factor may be to measure estradiol and testosterone, and consider ratios for these two gonadal hormones, rather than chromosomal sex alone. I’m not a sex differences researcher per se, but it has found it’s way into my work in infant sleep and brain development, and I’m quite pleased because it is something I have been fascinated by since the 80’s (when in my early teens).

[sp1]

That last note was a reply to @mindeyeconnection

[Deborah Zelinsky]

Seems as though retinal processing is different also. I’m now trying to see if transgender people are different also.