Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34796870›Full record

ArticleeLife2021

Sex differences in learning from exploration.

Cathy S Chen, Evan Knep, Autumn Han, R Becket Ebitz, Nicola M Grissom

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in eLife, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
56citing papers in PubMed
–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

56 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. On the importance of including both sexes in animal studies - insights from home-cage monitoring.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2026
    Review
  2. Sex-biased computations underlying differential set shift performance in mice.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    Article
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  16. Prefrontal Network Mechanisms of Psychiatric Deep Brain Stimulation.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025
    Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Individual differences in sequential decision-making.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
    Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Cathy S ChenDepartment of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States.ORCID 0000-0003-2506-8522
Evan KnepDepartment of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States.
Autumn HanDepartment of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States.
R Becket EbitzDepartment of Neurosciences, University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Nicola M GrissomDepartment of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States.ORCID 0000-0003-3630-8130

Funding

Using a computational and network neuroscience framework to study pharmacological manipulations of state representation processes in early psychosisP50MH119569 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · PI A DAVID REDISH, Sophia Vinogradov · 2020 to 2026
$24.5M
Sex-biased impacts of 16p11.2 variants on reward-guided choiceR01MH123661 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · PI GRISSOM, NICOLA · 2020 to 2024
$2.5M
Using Computation to Achieve Breakthroughs in NeuroscienceT32MH115886 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · PI REDISH, A DAVID · 2018 to 2022
$1.7M
NIMH NIH HHS P50 MH119569NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH123661NIMH NIH HHS T32 MH115886
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Sex-based modulation of cognitive processes could set the stage for individual differences in vulnerability to neuropsychiatric disorders. While value-based decision making processes in particular have been proposed to be influenced by sex differences, the overall correct performance in decision making tasks often show variable or minimal differences across sexes. Computational tools allow us to uncover latent variables that define different decision making approaches, even in animals with similar correct performance. Here, we quantify sex differences in mice in the latent variables underlying behavior in a classic value-based decision making task: a restless two-armed bandit. While male and female mice had similar accuracy, they achieved this performance via different patterns of exploration. Male mice tended to make more exploratory choices overall, largely because they appeared to get 'stuck' in exploration once they had started. Female mice tended to explore less but learned more quickly during exploration. Together, these results suggest that sex exerts stronger influences on decision making during periods of learning and exploration than during stable choices. Exploration during decision making is altered in people diagnosed with addictions, depression, and neurodevelopmental disabilities, pinpointing the neural mechanisms of exploration as a highly translational avenue for conferring sex-modulated vulnerability to neuropsychiatric diagnoses.

Indexed as

Choice BehaviorDecision MakingExploratory BehaviorAnimalsAnxietyFemaleMaleMiceRewardSex Factorscomputational biologydecision makingexplorationexplore-exploitmouseneurosciencereinforcement learningsex differencessystems biology

Identifiers

PMID34796870
PMCPMC8794469

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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.