There is much to learn about the biology underlying sex and gender development, and how sex differences result in higher or lower incidences of disease and responses to treatments. Check these links to learn about WashU investigators who study sex differences, published findings, and additional resources related to sex and gender.
Glossary
- Assigned sex: determination made at a person’s birth based on an infant’s anatomy and/or sex chromosomes.
- Cisgender: when one’s gender identity and assigned sex coincide with societal norms (e.g., man and male).
- Gender identity: a label used to describe one’s identity within a given society’s understanding of gender.
- Nonbinary: a person who does not subscribe to conventional gender categories but identifies with neither, both, or a combination of genders. Related terms include genderqueer, gender fluid, and more.
- Transgender: when gender identity and sex do not coincide with societal norms.
*from Rubin JD, Atwood S, Olson KR, “Studying Gender Diversity” (2020), Trends in Cognitive Sciences
Resources
Nature, Collection of opinion articles on sex and gender in research
- “Sex and gender in science: How to navigate a challenging area of research to the benefit of all” (2024)
National Academies Consensus Study Report
Commentaries on sex and gender in neuroscience research
- “Neuroscience and Sex/Gender: Looking Back and Forward” | The Journal of Neuroscience (Viewpoints), 2020
- “Studying Gender Diversity” | Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2020
- “Reporting and misreporting of sex differences in the biological sciences” | eLife, 2021
From the 2019 Transgender Spectrum Conference
Publications from WashU authors
Sex-related differences in violence exposure, neural reactivity to threat, and mental health
Dark, HE , Harnett, NG, Hurst, DR, Wheelock, MD, Wood, KH, Goodman, AM, Mrug, S, Elliott, MN, Emery, ST, Schuster, MA, Knight, DC. (2022) Neuropsychopharmacology
Sex-Based Differences in Functional Brain Activity During Working Memory in Survivors of Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Gandy, K, Scoggins, MA, Phillips, N, Van Der Plas, E, Fellah, S, Jacola, LM, Pui, C-H, Hudson, MM, Reddick, WE, Sitaram, R, Krull, KR. (2022) JNCI Cancer Spectrum
Consideration of sex and gender in Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders from a global perspective
Mielke MM, Aggarwal NT,… Trani JF, Turner AD, Vonk JMJ, Quiroz YT, Babulal GM, Diversity and Disparity Professional Interest Area Sex and Gender Special Interest Group (2022) Alzheimer’s and Dementia
Sex-Specific Patterns of Body Mass Index Relationship with White Matter Connectivity
Rahmani F, Wang Q, McKay NS, Keefe S, Hantler N, Hornbeck R, Wang Y, Hassenstab J, Schindler S, Xiong C, Morris JC, Benzinger TLS, Raji CA (2022) Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease
Importance of the intersection of age and sex to understand variation in incidence and survival for primary malignant gliomas
Wang G-M, Patil GCNP, Waite KA, Lanese R, Ostrom QT, Kruchko C, Berens ME, Connor JR, Lathia JD, Rubin JB, Barnholtz-Sloan JS (2022), Neuro-oncology