SEX DIFFERENCES, DIMORPHISMS, DIVERGENCES: IMPACT ON BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR IN HEALTH AND DISEASE


May 20-25, 2019
Erice, Sicily, ITALY


Workshop Organizers

Conference goals

Purpose of the Workshop

Conference goals

The overall purpose of the Workshop is to explore the extent to which sex differences affect brain and behavior, contribute to vulnerability to disease and how cultural and societal roles intersect with the biological basis of sex. The workshop will focus on several topic areas to increase our understanding of the mechanisms by which sex and gender, in animal models and people, respectively, influence health and disease. The format will involve talks by international renowned scientists, who have been engaged in research comprising multidisciplinary approaches from sexual selection to epigenetic mechanisms, from behavior to gender medicine, from biology to culture. All speakers are prepared to discuss how their research relates to concepts arising from the other disciplines to facilitate a highly interdisciplinary and interactive workshop for all the partecipants.

Workshop Topics

Conference goals

  • - Sexual Selection Theory and Evolution
  • - Comparative studies of male and female strategies
  • - Mechanisms of sex differentiation
  • - Sex specific outcomes
  • - Differential impact of disease
  • - Gender medicine
  • - Consequences for Society, Culture, Religion

Speakers & Topics

Art Arnold

Sex differences caused by sex chromosome genes

Jacques Balthazart

Sex partner preference in animals and humans

Debra Bangasser

Sex differences in stress regulation of arousal and cognition

Greg Ball

Sex differences in the songbird brain: hormone plasticity and behavior

Roberta Brinton

Sex Hormones, metabolism and Alzheimer disease

Christine Disteche

Regulation and 3D structure of the X chromosome and impact on sex chromosome disorders

Carola Eva

NPY system, metabolism and stress response: male/female comparisons

Fr. Alberto Frigerio

'The two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery' (Ep 5,31b-32a)

David Geary

Evolution of Sex Differences in Trait- and Age-Specific Vulnerability

Melissa Hines

Human gender development

Daphna Joel

Rethinking sex and the brain: from dimorphism to mosaic

Margareth McCarthy

Immune origins of sex differences in the brain

Anne Murphy

Influence of sex and age on pain perception and morphine action

Paola Palanza

Sex-biased impact of genetic and environmental factors

Andrea Pilastro

Evolution of Anisogamy, Sexual Selection and sexual conflict

Armin Raznahan

Sex-Biased Brain Development in Humans: Maps, Mechanisms and Meanings

Chuck Roselli

Sex differences in kisspeptin expression: a role in sexual differentiation

Kathryn Sandberg

Mechanisms underlying increased anxiety and cognitive decline induced by ovarian hormone loss

Marcia Stefanick

The Challenge of Developing a Human Brain Case for the Gendered Innovations Project

Larry Young

Sex differences and similarities in the neurobiology of pair bonding