@article{willett_cao_dorris_johnson_ginnari_meitzen_2019, title={Electrophysiological Properties of Medium Spiny Neuron Subtypes in the Caudate-Putamen of Prepubertal Male and Female Drd1a-tdTomato Line 6 BAC Transgenic Mice}, volume={6}, ISSN={["2373-2822"]}, DOI={10.1523/ENEURO.0016-19.2019}, abstractNote={AbstractThe caudate-putamen is a striatal brain region essential for sensorimotor behaviors, habit learning, and other cognitive and premotor functions. The output and predominant neuron of the caudate-putamen is the medium spiny neuron (MSN). MSNs present discrete cellular subtypes that show differences in neurochemistry, dopamine receptor expression, efferent targets, gene expression, functional roles, and most importantly for this study, electrophysiological properties. MSN subtypes include the striatonigral and the striatopallidal groups. Most studies identify the striatopallidal MSN subtype as being more excitable than the striatonigral MSN subtype. However, there is some divergence between studies regarding the exact differences in electrophysiological properties. Furthermore, MSN subtype electrophysiological properties have not been reported disaggregated by biological sex. We addressed these questions using prepubertal male and female Drd1a-tdTomato line 6 BAC transgenic mice, an important transgenic line that has not yet received extensive electrophysiological analysis. We made acute caudate-putamen brain slices and assessed a robust battery of 16 relevant electrophysiological properties using whole-cell patch-clamp recording, including intrinsic membrane, action potential, and miniature EPSC (mEPSC) properties. We found that: (1) MSN subtypes exhibited multiple differential electrophysiological properties in both sexes, including rheobase, action potential threshold and width, input resistance in both the linear and rectified ranges, and mEPSC amplitude; (2) select electrophysiological properties showed interactions between MSN subtype and sex. These findings provide a comprehensive evaluation of mouse caudate-putamen MSN subtype electrophysiological properties across females and males, both confirming and extending previous studies.}, number={2}, journal={ENEURO}, author={Willett, Jaime A. and Cao, Jinyan and Dorris, David M. and Johnson, Ashlyn G. and Ginnari, Laura A. and Meitzen, John}, year={2019} }
 @article{will_proano_thomas_kunz_thompson_ginnari_jones_lucas_reavis_dorris_et al._2017, title={Problems and Progress regarding Sex Bias and Omission in Neuroscience Research}, volume={4}, ISSN={["2373-2822"]}, DOI={10.1523/eneuro.0278-17.2017}, abstractNote={Neuroscience research has historically ignored female animals. This neglect comes in two general forms. The first is sex bias, defined as favoring one sex over another; in this case, male over female. The second is sex omission, which is the lack of reporting sex. The recognition of this phenomenon has generated fierce debate across the sciences. Here we test whether sex bias and omission are still present in the neuroscience literature, whether studies employing both males and females neglect sex as an experimental variable, and whether sex bias and omission differs between animal models and journals. To accomplish this, we analyzed the largest-ever number of neuroscience articles for sex bias and omission: 6636 articles using mice or rats in 6 journals published from 2010 to 2014. Sex omission is declining, as increasing numbers of articles report sex. Sex bias remains present, as increasing numbers of articles report the sole use of males. Articles using both males and females are also increasing, but few report assessing sex as an experimental variable. Sex bias and omission varies substantially by animal model and journal. These findings are essential for understanding the complex status of sex bias and omission in neuroscience research and may inform effective decisions regarding policy action.}, number={6}, journal={ENEURO}, author={Will, Tyler R. and Proano, Stephanie B. and Thomas, Anly M. and Kunz, Lindsey M. and Thompson, Kelly C. and Ginnari, Laura A. and Jones, Clay H. and Lucas, Sarah-Catherine and Reavis, Elizabeth M. and Dorris, David M. and et al.}, year={2017} }