Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40425010›Full record

ArticleCell genomics2025

Early establishment and life course stability of sex biases in the human brain transcriptome.

Clara Benoit-Pilven, Juho V Asteljoki, Jaakko T Leinonen, Juha Karjalainen, Mark J Daly, Taru Tukiainen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cell genomics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing 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

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Review
  4. Transcriptomic Convergence and the Female Protective Effect in Autism.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
    Article
  5. Article
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

6 authors.

Clara Benoit-PilvenInstitute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM, HiLIFE, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Juho V AsteljokiMinerva Foundation Institute for Medical Research, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Internal Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Abdominal Center, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
Jaakko T LeinonenInstitute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM, HiLIFE, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Juha KarjalainenInstitute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM, HiLIFE, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Mark J DalyInstitute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM, HiLIFE, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA; Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA; Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Taru TukiainenInstitute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM, HiLIFE, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. Electronic address: taru.tukiainen@helsinki.fi.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

To elaborate on the origins of the established male-female differences in several brain-related phenotypes, we assessed the patterns of transcriptomic sex biases in the developing and adult human forebrain. We find an abundance of sex differences in expression (sex-DEs) in the prenatal brain, driven by both hormonal and sex-chromosomal factors, and considerable consistency in the sex effects between the developing and adult brain, with little sex-DE exclusive to the adult forebrain. Sex-DE was not enriched in genes associated with brain disorders, consistent with systematic differences in the characteristics of these genes (e.g., constraint). Yet, the genes with persistent sex-DE across the lifespan were overrepresented in disease gene co-regulation networks, pointing to their potential to mediate sex biases in brain phenotypes. Altogether, our work highlights prenatal development as a crucial time point for the establishment of brain sex differences.

Indexed as

BrainSex CharacteristicsTranscriptomeAdultFemaleGene Expression Regulation, DevelopmentalGene Regulatory NetworksHumansMaledifferential expressionhuman brainneuronssex differencessex hormonestranscriptomicsX chromosome

Identifiers

PMID40425010
PMCPMC12278626

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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.