ArticleBiology of sex differences2023
Sex differences in pre- and post-synaptic glutamate signaling in the nucleus accumbens core.
Article in Biology of sex differences, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Glutamatergic Modulation of Brain Function in Psychosis: A Systematic Review of Neuroimaging Studies.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2025Pooled it
- Chronic joint pain drives sex-specific changes in hippocampal glutamatergic signaling and sleep.npj biomedical innovations · 2026Article
- Loss of oxytocin receptor function disrupts neural signatures of pair bonding and fidelity in the nucleus accumbens.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Sex differences in neural circuits driving binge-like drinking: a female-specific role for an amygdalo-striatal pathway.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Sex differences in AMPA receptor trafficking proteins.Biology of sex differences · 2026Review
- PKMζ is necessary for long-term depression and long-term potentiation in the medial prefrontal cortex.The Journal of physiology · 2026Article
- Multi-voxel MR-spectroscopy signatures and associations with EEG network hyperexcitability and clinical symptomatology in borderline personality disorder.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Centrally administered thromboxane AScientific reports · 2025Article
- Acute high glucose exposure impairs synaptosomal vesicle release activity.Brain research · 2025Article
- Frequent vocalizations and deep brain stimulation-responsive hyperkinesia in a striatal disinhibition rat model for Tourette syndrome.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Bioinformatics Analysis of the Glutamate-Gated Chloride Channel Family inInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Article
- Effects of chronic insecticide exposure on neuronal network development in vitro in rat cortical cultures.Archives of toxicology · 2024Article
- Sex-Specific Mechanisms Underlie Long-Term Potentiation at Hippocampus→Medium Spiny Neuron Synapses in the Medial Shell of the Nucleus Accumbens.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2024Article
- Review
- Sex differences in glutamate transmission and plasticity in reward related regions.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2024Review
- Nucleus accumbens core single cell ensembles bidirectionally respond to experienced versus observed aversive events.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Sex differences in mouse infralimbic cortex projections to the nucleus accumbens shell.Biology of sex differences · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundGlutamate signaling within the nucleus accumbens underlies motivated behavior and is involved in psychiatric disease. Although behavioral sex differences in these processes are well-established, the neural mechanisms driving these differences are largely unexplored. In these studies, we examine potential sex differences in synaptic plasticity and excitatory transmission within the nucleus accumbens core. Further understanding of baseline sex differences in reward circuitry will shed light on potential mechanisms driving behavioral differences in motivated behavior and psychiatric disease.
methodsBehaviorally naïve adult male and female Long-Evans rats, C57Bl/6J mice, and constitutive PKMζ knockout mice were killed and tissue containing the nucleus accumbens core was collected for ex vivo slice electrophysiology experiments. Electrophysiology recordings examined baseline sex differences in synaptic plasticity and transmission within this region and the potential role of PKMζ in long-term depression.
resultsWithin the nucleus accumbens core, both female mice and rats exhibit higher AMPA/NMDA ratios compared to male animals. Further, female mice have a larger readily releasable pool of glutamate and lower release probability compared to male mice. No significant sex differences were detected in spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic current amplitude or frequency. Finally, the threshold for induction of long-term depression was lower for male animals than females, an effect that appears to be mediated, in part, by PKMζ.
conclusionsWe conclude that there are baseline sex differences in synaptic plasticity and excitatory transmission in the nucleus accumbens core. Our data suggest there are sex differences at multiple levels in this region that should be considered in the development of pharmacotherapies to treat psychiatric illnesses such as depression and substance use disorder.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.