Sex Differences in the Central Nervous System

Dr. Shansky serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Northeastern University. She received her PhD in Neurobiology from Yale University, and her research focuses on neural connections and sex differences impact how circuits process fear and respond to stress. She has 15 years’ experience in the field of sex differences, has authored many peer- reviewed primary research articles and reviews on the subject, has current NIH funding to study sex-specific neuroanatomical markers of vulnerability in PTSD, received the 2008 “Young Investigator Award” from the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences, and serves as reviewer for numerous journals and an Editorial Board Member for Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience.

1. Sex Differences in Immunity and Inflammation: Implications for Brain & Behavior 2. Molecular Mechanisms of Memory in Males and Females 3. Sex Differences in Anxiety Disorders: Gonadal Hormone Interactions with Pathophysiology, Neurobiology, and Treatment 4. Sex differences in social behavior network and mesolimbic dopamine system 5. Sexual Dimorphisms in Psychosis Risk: A Neurodevelopment Perspective 6. Sex, Gender and Addiction 7. Stress and emotional learning in humans: Evidence for sex differences 8. Biological Underpinnings of Sex Differences in Eating Disorders 9. The maternal brain: Long lasting effects on hippocampus structure and function with reproductive experience 10. Sex and the Developing Brain 11. Presence and Absence of Sex Differences in Structure and Function of the Brain Oxytocin System: Implications for Understanding the Regulation of Social Behavior

12. Sex differences in neurologic diseases 13. Steroid Hormone Signaling Pathways and Sex differences in Neuroendocrine and Behavioral Responses to Stress 14. Sex differences in rodent cognitive processing and cognitive responses to stress 15. Epigenetic sex: Gene-environmental contributions to brain sex differences and its impact on mental health risk