Let’s talk about sex: Integrating sex as a biological variable into epilepsy research

Abstract

There is a long history of underrepresentation of women and female animals being studied in scientific research, which has resulted in gaps in knowledge and at times, inaccurate clinical recommendations. There is a gradual shift in the mindset of the scientific community on this issue, in part related to policy changes enacted by the National Institute of Health (NIH). Sex must now be accounted for as a biological variable in both basic and clinical research. This review discusses the history of evolving policies on inclusion of sex-informed data in scientific research, and the ways in which epilepsy researchers can approach future studies in a manner that takes sex as a biological variable into account.