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Sex Differences in Development

About the series

We are interested in primary research or review articles that address sex differences in development that are influenced by environmental, social, genetic, hormonal, or other biological factors. Outcome measures may include brain, behavior and/or physiological processes in children/adolescents or animal models of these processes.

  1. The hypothalamus plays a central role in regulating puberty. However, our knowledge of the postnatal gene regulatory networks that control the pubertal transition in males and females is incomplete. Here, we i...

    Authors: Dustin J. Sokolowski, Huayun Hou, Kyoko E. Yuki, Anna Roy, Cadia Chan, Wendy Choi, Mariela Faykoo-Martinez, Matt Hudson, Christina Corre, Liis Uusküla-Reimand, Anna Goldenberg, Mark R. Palmert and Michael D. Wilson
    Citation: Biology of Sex Differences 2024 15:83
    Content type: Research Published on:

  2. Fetal sex and placental development impact pregnancy outcomes and fetal–maternal health, but the critical timepoint of placenta establishment in first trimester is understudied in human pregnancies.

    Authors: Tania L. Gonzalez, Bryn E. Willson, Erica T. Wang, Kent D. Taylor, Allynson Novoa, Akhila Swarna, Juanita C. Ortiz, Gianna J. Zeno, Caroline A. Jefferies, Kate Lawrenson, Jerome I. Rotter, Yii-Der Ida Chen, John Williams III, Jinrui Cui, Mark O. Goodarzi and Margareta D. Pisarska
    Citation: Biology of Sex Differences 2024 15:63
    Content type: Research Published on:

  3. Recent studies have shown that prenatal BPA exposure altered the transcriptome profiles of autism-related genes in the offspring’s hippocampus, disrupting hippocampal neuritogenesis and causing male-specific d...

    Authors: Songphon Kanlayaprasit, Thanit Saeliw, Surangrat Thongkorn, Pawinee Panjabud, Kasidit Kasitipradit, Pattanachat Lertpeerapan, Kwanjira Songsritaya, Wasana Yuwattana, Thanawin Jantheang, Depicha Jindatip, Valerie W. Hu, Takako Kikkawa, Noriko Osumi and Tewarit Sarachana
    Citation: Biology of Sex Differences 2024 15:40
    Content type: Research Published on:

  4. Pup-dam ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) are essential to cognitive and socio-emotional development. In autism and Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), disruptions in pup-dam USV communication hint at a possible connectio...

    Authors: Gabriele Giua, Daniela Iezzi, Alba Caceres-Rodriguez, Benjamin Strauss, Pascale Chavis and Olivier J. Manzoni
    Citation: Biology of Sex Differences 2024 15:18
    Content type: Research Published on:

  5. The placenta is vital for fetal development and its contributions to various developmental issues, such as pregnancy complications, fetal growth restriction, and maternal exposure, have been extensively studie...

    Authors: Lisa-Marie Legault, Mélanie Breton-Larrivée, Alexandra Langford-Avelar, Anthony Lemieux and Serge McGraw
    Citation: Biology of Sex Differences 2024 15:2
    Content type: Research Published on:

  6. Gestational sleep apnea is a hypoxic sleep disorder that affects 8–26% of pregnancies and increases the risk for central nervous system dysfunction in offspring. Specifically, there are sex differences in the ...

    Authors: Steve Mabry, E. Nicole Wilson, Jessica L. Bradshaw, Jennifer J. Gardner, Oluwadarasimi Fadeyibi, Edward Vera Jr., Oluwatobiloba Osikoya, Spencer C. Cushen, Dimitrios Karamichos, Styliani Goulopoulou and Rebecca L. Cunningham
    Citation: Biology of Sex Differences 2023 14:81
    Content type: Research Published on:

  8. Sex differences pose a challenge and an opportunity in biomedical research. Understanding how sex chromosomes and hormones affect disease-causing mechanisms will shed light on the mechanisms underlying predomi...

    Authors: Susanna Szakats, Alice McAtamney, Hugh Cross and Megan J. Wilson
    Citation: Biology of Sex Differences 2023 14:57
    Content type: Research Published on:

  9. Prenatal alcohol (ethanol) exposure (PAE) results in brain growth restriction, in part, by reprogramming self-renewal and maturation of fetal neural stem cells (NSCs) during neurogenesis. We recently showed th...

    Authors: Dae D. Chung, Amanda H. Mahnke, Marisa R. Pinson, Nihal A. Salem, Michael S. Lai, Natalie P. Collins, Andrew E. Hillhouse and Rajesh C. Miranda
    Citation: Biology of Sex Differences 2023 14:19
    Content type: Research Published on:

  10. Bisphenol A (BPA) has been linked to susceptibility to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Our recent studies have shown that prenatal BPA exposure disrupted ASD-related gene expression in the hippocampus, neurolo...

    Authors: Surangrat Thongkorn, Songphon Kanlayaprasit, Kasidit Kasitipradit, Pattanachat Lertpeerapan, Pawinee Panjabud, Valerie W. Hu, Depicha Jindatip and Tewarit Sarachana
    Citation: Biology of Sex Differences 2023 14:8
    Content type: Research Published on:

  11. Monopterus albus is a hermaphroditic and economically farmed fish that undergoes sex reversal from ovary to testis via ovotestis during gonadal development. The epigenetic changes that are associated with gonadal...

    Authors: Qiaomu Hu, Zitong Lian, Xueping Xia, Haifeng Tian and Zhong Li
    Citation: Biology of Sex Differences 2022 13:73
    Content type: Research Published on:

  12. Gonadal development is driven by a complex genetic cascade in vertebrates. However, related information remains limited in molluscs owing to the long generation time and the difficulty in maintaining whole lif...

    Authors: Yajuan Li, Liangjie Liu, Lijing Zhang, Huilan Wei, Shaoxuan Wu, Tian Liu, Ya Shu, Yaxin Yang, Zujing Yang, Shi Wang, Zhenmin Bao and Lingling Zhang
    Citation: Biology of Sex Differences 2022 13:69
    Content type: Research Published on:

  14. The pituitary gland regulates essential physiological processes such as growth, pubertal onset, stress response, metabolism, reproduction, and lactation. While sex biases in these functions and hormone product...

    Authors: Huayun Hou, Cadia Chan, Kyoko E. Yuki, Dustin Sokolowski, Anna Roy, Rihao Qu, Liis Uusküla-Reimand, Mariela Faykoo-Martinez, Matt Hudson, Christina Corre, Anna Goldenberg, Zhaolei Zhang, Mark R. Palmert and Michael D. Wilson
    Citation: Biology of Sex Differences 2022 13:57
    Content type: Research Published on:

  15. Hypoxia is associated with pregnancy complications, such as preeclampsia, placental abruption, and gestational sleep apnea. Hypoxic insults during gestation can impact the brain maturation of cortical and subc...

    Authors: E. Nicole Wilson, Steve Mabry, Jessica L. Bradshaw, Jennifer J. Gardner, Nataliya Rybalchenko, Rachel Engelland, Oluwadarasimi Fadeyibi, Oluwatobiloba Osikoya, Spencer C. Cushen, Styliani Goulopoulou and Rebecca L. Cunningham
    Citation: Biology of Sex Differences 2022 13:54
    Content type: Research Published on:

  16. Differences in adolescents and adults by sex in blood levels of leptin and adiposity have been described; however, it is not yet clear if these differences arise from the prepubertal stage in subjects with a n...

    Authors: Jose Guillermo Ortega-Avila, Harry García-Muñoz, Alejandro Segura Ordoñez and Blanca C. Salazar Contreras
    Citation: Biology of Sex Differences 2022 13:47
    Content type: Research Published on:

    The Correction to this article has been published in Biology of Sex Differences 2022 13:67

  17. The aim of this study was to analyze the association of physical activity and its intensity with arterial stiffness and vascular aging and differences by sex in a Spanish population with intermediate cardiovas...

    Authors: Leticia Gómez-Sánchez, Emiliano Rodríguez-Sánchez, Rafel Ramos, Ruth Marti, Marta Gómez-Sánchez, Cristina Lugones-Sánchez, Olaya Tamayo-Morales, Susana Gonzalez Sánchez, Fernando Rigo, Luis García-Ortiz and Manuel A. Gómez-Marcos
    Citation: Biology of Sex Differences 2022 13:46
    Content type: Research Published on:

  18. Sex and age associated differences in the tumor immune microenvironment of non-muscle invasive bladder (NMIBC) cancer and associated clinical outcomes are emerging indicators of treatment outcomes. The inciden...

    Authors: Ali Hamade, Deyang Li, Kathrin Tyryshkin, Minqi Xu, Gwenaelle Conseil, Priyanka Yolmo, Jake Hamilton, Stephen Chenard, D. Robert Siemens and Madhuri Koti
    Citation: Biology of Sex Differences 2022 13:19
    Content type: Research Published on: