GenderBiology.net

Intranasal Insulin May Lower Food Intake In Men, Improve Memory Function In Women

SOURCE: Medical News Today

DATE: February 22, 2008

EXCERPT: "Insulin administered intranasally, acutely decreases food intake in men but not women and in contrast, the compound improves memory function in women but not men according to a new study ... "    more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Dr. Christian Benedict of the University of Lubeck in Germany.  Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

Women With Higher Levels Of DHEAS Have Better Cognitive Function

SOURCE: Medical News Today

DATE: February 22, 2008

EXCERPT:   "Women with naturally higher levels of the hormone precursor DHEAS were found to have better cognitive function than women with lower levels  ....      DHEA is a steroid precursor, which means that it is converted in the body to steroid hormones such as testosterone and estrogen. It is the most abundant circulating sex steroid in women.    ...    The researchers speculate that there may be a number of explanations for their findings, including direct action of DHEA and DHEAS, DHEAS being a marker of androgen and estrogen production in women, or simply DHEA and DHEAS levels being markers of general good health.   ....   Although DHEA and DHEAS levels decline in both men and women with age, testosterone levels are generally well maintained in men. In contrast, testosterone levels in women are only a fraction of those found naturally in men. This may mean that even small differences in adrenal pre-androgen production may make a substantial difference to a woman's overall androgen profile."   more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Dr. Susan Davis of the Monash University in Victoria, Australia.  March issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

Psychologists Explore Possibility Of Gender Differences In Memory, Findings Favor Females

SOURCE: Medical News Today

DATE:  February 21, 2008

EXCERPT:  Research question:  "Does one's sex influence his or her ability to remember everyday events? ...... findings [found] significant sex differences in episodic memory, a type of long-term memory based on personal experiences, favoring women."  more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Psychologists Agneta Herlitz and Jenny Rehnman in Stockholm, Sweden. February 2008 edition of Current Directions in Psychological Science.

Specific Genetic Variant Linked To Schizophrenia In Women

SOURCE:  Medical News Today

DATE: February 18, 2008

EXCERPT:  "A genetic variant in the Reelin gene increases the chances of developing schizophrenia in women but not in men."   more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Shifman S, Johannesson M, Bronstein M, Chen SX, Collier DA, Craddock NJ, Kendler KS, Li T, O'Donovan M, O'Neill FA, Owen MJ, Walsh D, Weinberger DR, Sun C, Flint J, Darvasi A.
Genome-Wide Association Identifies a Common Variant in the Reelin Gene That Increases the Risk of Schizophrenia Only in Women. PLoS Genet. 2008 Feb 15;4(2):e28

Statins And Memory Loss In Women

SOURCE:  Medical News Today

DATE: February 15, 2008

EXCERPT: "The media is reporting stories of doctors observing that cholesterol lowering statins caused loss of memory and thinking skills in some of their female patients. At the moment this "evidence" is purely anecdotal, but it appears to be gathering pace, and doctors are sufficiently concerned to say there should be more studies on the link between statins and cognition, particularly in women.    ...    Researchers at the University of California at San Diego UCSD) are coming to the end of a randomized controlled trial on the effect of statins on behaviour, mood, thinking skills, and quality of life."    more

RELATED LINK

Click here to read the full story in the Wall Street Journal.

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Beatrice Golomb, lead researcher on the UCSD study.  Stay tuned for study results.

Sex Differences In The Brain's Serotonin System

SOURCE:  Medical News Today

DATE:  February 14, 2008

EXCERPT: "A new thesis from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet shows that the brain's serotonin system differs between men and women. The scientists who conducted the study think that they have found one of the reasons why depression and chronic anxiety are more common in women than in men."   more

RELATED DETAILS:

Thesis: Jovanovic, Hristina. 2008.  PET evaluation of central serotonergic neurotransmission in women. Solna, Stockholm: Department of Clinical Neuroscience. Karolinska University Hospital.

Link Found Between Gout In Men And Sugar In Soft Drinks

SOURCE: Medical News Today

DATE:  February 5, 2008

EXCERPT:  "According to a recent study published on bmj.com, men who drink sugary soft drinks and eat fructose have an increased risk of gout."  more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Choi HK, Curhan G. Soft drinks, fructose consumption, and the risk of gout in men: prospective cohort study. BMJ. 2008 Feb 9;336(7639):309-12. Epub 2008 Jan 31.

Reward Regions Of Brain Activated By Video Games More In Men Than Women, Stanford Study Finds

SOURCE:  Medical News Today

DATE: February 5, 2008

EXCERPT:  "In a first-of-its-kind imaging study, the Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have shown that the part of the brain that generates rewarding feelings is more activated in men than women during video-game play.  ...   The findings indicate, the researchers said, that successfully acquiring territory in a computer game format is more rewarding for men than for women. "  more

RELATED PUBMED LINK:

Hoeft F, Watson CL, Kesler SR, Bettinger KE, Reiss AL. Gender differences in the mesocorticolimbic system during computer game-play. J Psychiatr Res. 2008 Mar;42(4):253-8. Epub 2008 Jan 14