© 2023 • 166 pages, illustrated (23 color and 7 B&W), index
Hardcover • $75.00 • ISBN 978-1-621823-97-1

Males and females of many mammalian species, including humans, display differences in physiology and behavior. Research on these differences is revealing how they arise during development, their impact on disease, and the role of hormones.

Written and edited by experts in the field, this collection from Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology summarizes recent progress in this area. It includes contributions covering epigenetic mechanisms in the brain, neuroendocrine responses to stress, and the evolution of “reversed” sex differences in the behavior of spotted hyenas, as well as studies of how sex differences may affect circadian rhythms, immune disorders, and depression.

The book also examines controversy around research in this area, including assessing bias in interpretation, whether prenatal hormones affect human sexual orientation and gendered behavior, and the dangers of neglecting sex differences when planning experiments or assessing pharmacological treatments. It is thus a vital reference both for biologists in the field and for translational researchers developing therapeutic approaches that may be affected by underlying sex differences.

Preface

Fairly Criticized, or Politicized? Conflicts in the Neuroscience of Sex Differences in the Human Brain

Cordelia Fine

Pervasive Neglect of Sex Differences in Biomedical Research

Irving Zucker, Brian J. Prendergast, and Annaliese K. Beery

Quantifying Sex Differences in Behavior in the Era of “Big” Data

Brian C. Trainor and Annegret L. Falkner

Epigenetic Mechanisms of Brain Sexual Differentiation

Bruno Gegenhuber and Jessica Tollkuhn

Sex Differences in Circadian Rhythms

James C. Walton, Jacob R. Bumgarner, and Randy J. Nelson

Sex Differences in Acute Neuroendocrine Responses to Stressors in Rodents and Humans

Robert J. Handa, Julietta A. Sheng, Emily A. Castellanos, Hayley N. Templeton, and Robert F. McGivern

Sex Differences in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Preclinical Animal Models for the Study of Depression

Elizabeth S. Williams, Michelle Mazei-Robison, and A.J. Robison

Sex Differences in Mast Cell—Associated Disorders: A Life Span Perspective

Emily Mackey and Adam J. Moeser

Sex Differences in Spotted Hyenas

S. Kevin McCormick, Kay E. Holekamp, Laura Smale, Mary L. Weldele, Stephen E. Glickman, and Ned J. Place

Evidence for Perinatal Steroid Influence on Human Sexual Orientation and Gendered Behavior

Ashlyn Swift-Gallant, Talia Shirazi, David A. Puts, and S. Marc Breedlove

Integrating Sex Chromosome and Endocrine Theories to Improve Teaching of Sexual Differentiation

Arthur P. Arnold

Index