Sex Differences in the Healthy and Diseased Brain

Dear Colleagues,

In 2015, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) mandated the inclusion of both sexes in most research with animals, tissues or cells. This is a welcomed development, as robust sex differences in the anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry of the healthy brain are likely to underlie the inherent sex bias in the diseased brain. For instance, females suffer more from mood disorders, such as depression and anxiety, whereas males are more susceptible to Parkinson's disease (PD), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, and early-onset schizophrenia. Hence, better understanding of the biology underlying brain sex differences will be vital for designing novel therapeutic agents that will have optimal effectiveness in each sex.

It is well established that many sex differences in both the development and course of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders are attributable to sex steroids, in particular, the neuroprotective actions of the sex hormone, estradiol (R.Hill, Neuroscience and Biobehavioural Reviews 2016). However, emerging evidence indicates that the sex chromosome genes (i.e. X- and Y-linked genes) also contribute to sex differences in the health and diseased brain (Lee and Harley, 2012, Bioessays). Taken together, these studies highlight the importance of understanding the interplay between sex hormones and sex-specific genes in healthy and diseased brain.

This Special Issue, covering the influence of sex on brain structure and function in both animals and humans, will discuss the interplay between sex hormones and sex-chromosome genes in regulating brain development and function in both health and disease.

Dr. Joohyung Lee
Dr. Rachel Hill
Guest Editors

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