title: Sex differences and stress across the lifespan.
abstract: Sex differences in stress responses can be found at all stages of life and are related to both the organizational and activational effects of gonadal hormones and to genes on the sex chromosomes. As stress dysregulation is the most common feature across neuropsychiatric diseases, sex differences in how these pathways develop and mature may predict sex-specific periods of vulnerability to disruption and increased disease risk or resilience across the lifespan. The aging brain is also at risk to the effects of stress, where the rapid decline of gonadal hormones in women combined with cellular aging processes promote sex biases in stress dysregulation. In this Review, we discuss potential underlying mechanisms driving sex differences in stress responses and their relevance to disease. Although stress is involved in a much broader range of diseases than neuropsychiatric ones, we highlight here this area and its examples across the lifespan.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.|Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.|Penn Center for the Study of Sex and Gender in Health, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Tracy L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Bale
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.|Penn Center for the Study of Sex and Gender in Health, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: C Neill
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Epperson
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008136:Longevity / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*