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Sex Differences In Cognitive Flexibility Are Driven By The Estrous Cycle And Stress-Dependent, Andrew T. Gargiulo, Jiayin Hu, Isabella C. Ravaglia, Annie Hawks, Xinyue Li, Katherine Sweasy, Laura A. Grafe

Psychology Faculty Research and Scholarship

Stress is associated with psychiatric disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, and panic disorders. Women are more likely to be diagnosed with these stress-related psychiatric disorders than men. A key phenotype in stress-related psychiatric disorders is impairment in cognitive flexibility, which is the ability to develop new strategies to respond to different patterns in the environment. Because gonadal hormones can contribute to sex differences in response to stress, it is important to consider where females are in their cycle when exposed to stress and cognitive flexibility testing. Moreover, identifying neural correlates involved in cognitive flexibility …