The study, “Sex Differences in Molecular Signaling at Inhibitory Synapses in the Hippocampus,” was published in The Journal of Neuroscience on August 12, 2015. Catherine Woolley, the William Deering Professor of Neurobiology, is senior author of the study.
Many brain disorders vary between the sexes, but how biology and culture contribute to these differences has been unclear. Now Northwestern neuroscientists have found an intrinsic biological difference between males and females in the molecular regulation of synapses in the hippocampus.
“The importance of studying sex differences in the brain is about making biology and medicine relevant to everyone, to both men and women,” said Catherine Woolley. “It is not about things such as who is better at reading a map or why more men than women choose to enter certain professions.”
“Our study starts to put some specifics on what types of molecular differences there are in male and female brains,” Woolley said.
Professor Catherine Woolley
In addition to Woolley, other authors of the paper are Nino Tabatadze (first author), Guangzhe Huang, Renee M. May and Anant Jain, all from Northwestern.
Catherine Woolley discusses this research in the Northwestern Now story: “Scientists Uncover a Difference Between the Sexes – Sex does matter: key molecular process in brain is different in males and females.”
Related:
Throughout her career, Catherine Woolley has been dedicated to building networks across the scientific community. Learn more about her work in the video below: “New Knowledge for a Complex World: Catherine Woolley.”