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 Differences in the Role of CNIH3 on Spatial Memory and Synaptic Plasticity
Frye HE, Izumi Y, Harris AN, Williams SB, Trousdale CR, Sun M-Y, Sauerbeck AD, Kummer TT, Mennerick S, Zorumski CF, Nelson EC, Dougherty JD, Morón JA (2021) Biological Psychiatry
OCD Influences Evidence Accumulation During Decision Making in Males but Not Females During Perceptual and Value-Driven Choice
Ma X , Megli A , Pittenger C, Pushkarskaya H (2021), Frontiers in Psychiatry
Sex-Based Analysis of De Novo Variants in Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Turner TN, Wilfert AB, Bakken TE, Bernier RA, Pepper MR, Zhang Z, Torene RI, Retterer K, Eichler EE (2019), The American Journal of Human Genetics