Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40478737›Full record

ArticleCell reports2025

The transcriptome of playfulness is sex biased in the juvenile rat medial amygdala: A role for inhibitory neurons.

Ashley E Marquardt, Mahashweta Basu, Jonathan W VanRyzin, Seth A Ament, Margaret M McCarthy

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Cell reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Ashley E MarquardtProgram in Neuroscience, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA; University of Maryland - Medicine Institute for Neuroscience Discovery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
Mahashweta BasuInstitute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
Jonathan W VanRyzinUniversity of Maryland - Medicine Institute for Neuroscience Discovery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA; Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
Seth A AmentUniversity of Maryland - Medicine Institute for Neuroscience Discovery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA; Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA; Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
Margaret M McCarthyUniversity of Maryland - Medicine Institute for Neuroscience Discovery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA; Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. Electronic address: mmccarthy@som.umaryland.edu.

Funding

Endocannabinoids regulate microglia in developing brainR01DA039062 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · PI MARGARET M. MCCARTHY · 2016 to 2026
$4.2M
Advanced components for an existing spinning disk confocal in an established core imaging facilityS10OD026698 · OD · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · PI BLANPIED, THOMAS A · 2019 to 2019
$274k
Gene Networks Regulating PlayfulnessF31MH123025 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · PI MARQUARDT, ASHLEY · 2020 to 2021
$76k
NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA039062NIH HHS S10 OD026698NIMH NIH HHS F31 MH123025
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Social play is a well-conserved, dynamic behavior known to be sexually differentiated. In most species, males play more than females, a sex difference largely driven by the medial amygdala (MeA), yet the full mechanism establishing this bias is unknown. Here, we explore "the transcriptome of playfulness" in both sexes, demonstrating that the transcriptomic profile in the juvenile rat MeA associated with playfulness is markedly distinct in males and females. Parallel single-cell RNA sequencing experiments from newborn rats suggest that inhibitory neurons drive this sex difference. Furthermore, we show that inhibitory neurons comprise the majority of play-active cells in the juvenile MeA, with males having more play-active cells than females, of which a greater proportion are GABAergic. Through integrative bioinformatic analyses, we further explore the expression, function, and cell-type specificity of key play-associated gene modules, providing valuable insight into the sex-biased mechanisms underlying this fundamental social behavior.

Indexed as

AmygdalaCorticomedial Nuclear ComplexNeuronsPlay and PlaythingsSex CharacteristicsTranscriptomeAnimalsFemaleGABAergic NeuronsMaleRatsRats, Sprague-DawleySocial BehavioramygdalaCP: Cell biologyCP: Neurosciencemedial amygdalaRNAseqscRNA-seqsex differencessocial behaviorsocial playWGCNA

Identifiers

PMID40478737
PMCPMC12255958

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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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.