Record Detail

Purpose of Review This review discusses the current state of
knowledge on sex differences in the epigenetic regulation in
the brain and highlights its relevance for the environmental
studies of brain and behavior.
Recent Findings Recent evidence shows that epigenetic
mechanisms are involved in the control of brain sexual differentiation and in memory-enhancing effects of estradiol in females. In addition, several studies have implicated epigenetic
dysregulation as an underlying mechanism for sex-specific
neurobehavioral effects of environmental exposures.
Summary The area of sex-specific neurepigenetics has a great
potential to improve our understanding of brain function in
health and disease. Future neuropigenetic studies will require
the inclusion of males and females and would ideally account
for the fluctuating hormonal status in females which is likely
to affect the epigenome. The implementation of cutting-edge
methods that include epigenomic characterization of specific
cell types using latest next-generation sequencing approaches
will further advance the area.