Debra Bangasser, Director, Neuroscience Program and Associate Professor, Psychology and Neuroscience
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There are sex differences in the rates and presentation of most psychiatric disorders. High levels of stress make psychiatric disorders worse, so studying how stress leads to pathology is important. However, most preclinical studies that try to identify the cause of, or develop treatments for, psychiatric disorders use only male subjects. This has led to a poor understanding of female neurobiology and likely contributes to the higher rates of adverse drug reactions in women than in men. My research has always included both male and female rodents and compared the sexes to identify factors that promote vulnerability or resilience to stress.
One ongoing line of research in the lab investigates the effects of the stress hormone, corticotropin releasing factor (CRF), on arousal and cognition. An important research finding is female rodents are more resilient than males to the memory impairing effects of CRF. A recently funded NSF grant aims to identify the factors that confer this female resilience, because understanding why females are protected may lead to novel therapeutics for treating memory impairments during stressful times. Outside of the lab, I have educated researchers, the medical field, and the public about the importance of including both sexes in preclinical research through efforts like publishing in Scientific American Mind and developing videos for VJ Neurology. The field is beginning to appreciate that studying both sexes is critical to develop treatments for psychiatric disorders that work well in everyone.
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