Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26232714›Full record

ReviewNeuroscience2017

The gestational foundation of sex differences in development and vulnerability.

J A DiPietro, K M Voegtline

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Neuroscience, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 160 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
160citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

160 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  12. Gestational kynurenine metabolites mediate effects of pregnancy adiposity on child negative affect.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2026
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100 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

J A DiPietroDepartment of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA. Electronic address: jdipiet1@jhu.edu.
K M VoegtlineDepartment of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.

Funding

FETAL NEUROBEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT &POSTNATAL CONTINUITYR01HD027592 · NICHD · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI DI PIETRO, JANET A. · 1996 to 2012
$3.9M
Organizational and activational effects of sex steroids on child self-regulationR00HD077058 · NICHD · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI VOEGTLINE, KRISTIN M · 2016 to 2018
$723k
NICHD NIH HHS R00 HD077058NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD027592
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Despite long-standing interest in the role of sex on human development, the functional consequences of fetal sex on early development are not well-understood. Here we explore the gestational origins of sex as a moderator of development. In accordance with the focus of this special issue, we examine evidence for a sex differential in vulnerability to prenatal and perinatal risks. Exposures evaluated include those present in the external environment (e.g., lead, pesticides), those introduced by maternal behaviors (e.g., alcohol, opioid use), and those resulting from an adverse intrauterine environment (e.g., preterm birth). We also provide current knowledge on the degree to which sex differences in fetal neurobehavioral development (i.e., cardiac and motor patterns) are present prior to birth. Also considered are contemporaneous and persistent sex of fetus effects on the pregnant woman. Converging evidence confirms that infant and early childhood developmental outcomes of male fetuses exposed to prenatal and perinatal adversities are more highly impaired than those of female fetuses. In certain circumstances, male fetuses are both more frequently exposed to early adversities and more affected by them when exposed than are female fetuses. The mechanisms through which biological sex imparts vulnerability or protection on the developing nervous system are largely unknown. We consider models that implicate variation in maturation, placental functioning, and the neuroendocrine milieu as potential contributors. Many studies use sex as a control variable, some analyze and report main effects for sex, but those that report interaction terms for sex are scarce. As a result, the true scope of sex differences in vulnerability is unknown.

Indexed as

Sex CharacteristicsAnimalsDisease SusceptibilityFemaleFetal DevelopmentHumansMalePregnancyPrenatal Exposure Delayed Effectsfetal developmentmale vulnerabilityperinatal riskpregnancyprenatal exposuressex differences

Identifiers

PMID26232714
PMCPMC4732938

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.