Why do Female Mice Adapt Faster to Change Than Males?
New research published in Neuropsychopharmacology explores why female mice demonstrate more cognitive flexibility than males. The article, entitled “Sex-biased computations underlying differential set shift performance in mice,” is the result of research produced by an interdisciplinary team that includes Nic Glewwe, graduate student (Neuroscience), Cathy Chen, alumna, Erin Giglio, postdoctoral associate, Evan Knep, graduate student, Nicola Grissom, faculty, and other internal and external UMN collaborators.
Their research investigates sex differences in cognitive flexibility—the ability to adaptively shift behavior or strategies based on changing feedback from the environment. Disruptions in cognitive flexibility are a core feature of many neuropsychiatric conditions. Because neuropsychiatric risk itself is heavily influenced by sex, understanding these biological and computational differences is critical.
For their study, the researchers developed a novel, automated touchscreen in which mice are trained to follow a specific visual rule to receive a reward (e.g., press a specific shape or light). Once they master this, the rule “shifts" without warning, forcing the mice to suppress their previously learned habit and discover the new rule through trial and error. Results showed that female mice more effectively rule-shifted by altering their underlying decision-making strategies, allowing them to pivot away from a failing strategy faster than males. These sex-biased differences in problem-solving offer vital clues into the mechanisms that dictate vulnerability or resilience to neuropsychiatric disorders across biological sexes, paving the way for more tailored, sex-specific approaches to understanding and treating executive dysfunction and neuropsychiatric conditions.
Cathy Chen, PhD (‘22), advised by Dr. Nicola Grissom in the NeuroGOAL Lab in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota.
Erin Giglio, PhD, postdoctoral associate in the NeuroGOAL Lab within the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota.
Evan Knep, graduate student in the Cognitive and Brain Sciences (CAB) area in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota. Advised by Dr. Nicola Grissom and part of the NeuroGOAL Lab.
Nicola Grissom, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Psychology, and director of the NeuroGOAL Lab at the University of Minnesota.
