Why the study?
Sex differences in the brain remain controversial due to small, contradictory effects, and an assessment of the robustness of studies identifying sex-biased genes across brain regions was missing.
Population
More than 16,000 transcriptomic samples from 46 datasets across 11 human brain regions
Comparison
Male versus female samples
Design
Systematic integration and meta-analysis of publicly available transcriptomic datasets
Key result
Biological sex is associated with robust gene expression differences across 11 human brain regions, with female-biased genes enriched on the X chromosome and male-biased genes on the Y chromosome.
Authors
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Highlights novel sex-specific traits; leaves open translation to cardiovascular risk or therapy.
Meta-Analysis (n=16,000)
This large-scale transcriptomic analysis provides a comprehensive resource of robust sex-biased gene signatures in the human brain, highlighting distinct functional enrichments and chromosomal origins.
Wapeesittipan et al. (2023) conducted a meta-analysis in Sex differences in human brain gene expression (n=16,000). Biological sex vs. Opposite sex was evaluated on Robust sex-biased gene expression differences. Biological sex is associated with robust gene expression differences across 11 human brain regions, with female-biased genes enriched on the X chromosome and male-biased genes on the Y chromosome.