Environmental challenges, including psychological stress, exposure to toxicants or substance use, and malnutrition, can trigger or increase the risk of neurodevelopmental, psychiatric, and neurodegenerative disorders. Males and females have dramatically different vulnerabilities to these disorders across the lifespan, and this may be due to sex-specific responses to environmental insults. Prenatal adversity often has a greater impact on males, with males having a higher prevalence of developmental-onset disorders. Females may be more vulnerable to adversity during puberty, but the effects are mixed and may depend on the type of exposure. Many psychiatric disorders that emerge post-puberty and during adulthood have a greater prevalence in females, but environmental challenges in adulthood also affect males. Finally, age-related neurodegenerative disorders are often more prevalent in females, suggesting that female vulnerability emerges with aging.
This Research Topic is seeking articles that compare behavioral outcomes after environmental challenges in males and females, across a wide variety of periods in the lifespan. Behavioral shifts in domains such as cognition, coping style, sociability, or exploration may underlie a risk for neurodevelopmental, psychiatric, and neurodegenerative disorders. The purpose of this Topic is to highlight differences between sexes in environmentally-induced behavioral shifts across the lifespan, what they mean, and discuss potential mechanisms. Importantly, we would like to prioritize discussions on whether certain behavioral shifts may contribute to pathology vs. being adaptive in nature for overcoming environmental adversity.
The overall purpose of this Topic is to highlight sex-specific behavioral outcomes in response to environmental challenges encountered across the lifespan. We welcome articles to discuss physiological and/or molecular responses to environmental challenges that may underlie the behavioral responses, such as transcriptional, epigenetic, immune, hormonal, neuronal circuit-based, peripheral, etc. As long as the behavioral outcome is a central focus, any putative mechanisms are of interest. Specifically, we would like to highlight how the behavioral and molecular/physiological response combined may be either adaptive or pathological in the context of the environmental challenge.
This Topic is open to submissions of original research articles, reviews, opinion articles, or commentaries that discuss male and female behavioral responses to environmental stimuli at any point throughout the lifespan. We welcome articles from basic animal models and/or clinical studies. Examples of types of articles of high interest include, but are not limited to:
• Sex differences in response to prenatal adversity and male vulnerability (or observed female vulnerability)
• Adolescent or adult environmental manipulations and outcomes in both sexes
• Sex differences in environmental contributions to age-related effects and female vulnerability (or observed male vulnerability)
• Stress across the lifespan and outcomes in both sexes
• Two-hit models to look at sex differences
• Comparing sex-specific responses to various types of environmental adversity
• Interventions to environmental adversity that differentially affect males or females
• Understanding sex-specific behavioral shifts to environmental challenges in the context of adaptive vs. pathological processes
Environmental challenges, including psychological stress, exposure to toxicants or substance use, and malnutrition, can trigger or increase the risk of neurodevelopmental, psychiatric, and neurodegenerative disorders. Males and females have dramatically different vulnerabilities to these disorders across the lifespan, and this may be due to sex-specific responses to environmental insults. Prenatal adversity often has a greater impact on males, with males having a higher prevalence of developmental-onset disorders. Females may be more vulnerable to adversity during puberty, but the effects are mixed and may depend on the type of exposure. Many psychiatric disorders that emerge post-puberty and during adulthood have a greater prevalence in females, but environmental challenges in adulthood also affect males. Finally, age-related neurodegenerative disorders are often more prevalent in females, suggesting that female vulnerability emerges with aging.
This Research Topic is seeking articles that compare behavioral outcomes after environmental challenges in males and females, across a wide variety of periods in the lifespan. Behavioral shifts in domains such as cognition, coping style, sociability, or exploration may underlie a risk for neurodevelopmental, psychiatric, and neurodegenerative disorders. The purpose of this Topic is to highlight differences between sexes in environmentally-induced behavioral shifts across the lifespan, what they mean, and discuss potential mechanisms. Importantly, we would like to prioritize discussions on whether certain behavioral shifts may contribute to pathology vs. being adaptive in nature for overcoming environmental adversity.
The overall purpose of this Topic is to highlight sex-specific behavioral outcomes in response to environmental challenges encountered across the lifespan. We welcome articles to discuss physiological and/or molecular responses to environmental challenges that may underlie the behavioral responses, such as transcriptional, epigenetic, immune, hormonal, neuronal circuit-based, peripheral, etc. As long as the behavioral outcome is a central focus, any putative mechanisms are of interest. Specifically, we would like to highlight how the behavioral and molecular/physiological response combined may be either adaptive or pathological in the context of the environmental challenge.
This Topic is open to submissions of original research articles, reviews, opinion articles, or commentaries that discuss male and female behavioral responses to environmental stimuli at any point throughout the lifespan. We welcome articles from basic animal models and/or clinical studies. Examples of types of articles of high interest include, but are not limited to:
• Sex differences in response to prenatal adversity and male vulnerability (or observed female vulnerability)
• Adolescent or adult environmental manipulations and outcomes in both sexes
• Sex differences in environmental contributions to age-related effects and female vulnerability (or observed male vulnerability)
• Stress across the lifespan and outcomes in both sexes
• Two-hit models to look at sex differences
• Comparing sex-specific responses to various types of environmental adversity
• Interventions to environmental adversity that differentially affect males or females
• Understanding sex-specific behavioral shifts to environmental challenges in the context of adaptive vs. pathological processes
