Behavioral neuroscience's inevitable SABV growing pains.

Global initiatives to consider sex as a biological variable (SABV) in experimental design arrived during a period of exciting technological innovation for the field of behavioral neuroscience. The field's historical reliance on male rodents has resulted in standard paradigms that are both overly simple and focused on male-biased behaviors, risking inaccurate interpretations when females are used. Reports of experimental effects in males but not females are becoming common, and the examination of additional metrics that better tap into female-biased behaviors may be required to improve experimental rigor. Experiments that appear to 'fail' in females can also be followed up with investigations into female-specific mechanisms that may suppress effects normally observed in males. New machine learning approaches offer a promising means by which the sophistication of behavioral assays can catch up to that of our tools, allowing unbiased evaluation of behavior in both sexes. The field of rodent behavioral neuroscience is undergoing two major sea changes: an ever-growing technological revolution, and worldwide calls to consider sex as a biological variable (SABV) in experimental design. Both have enormous potential to improve the precision and rigor with which the brain can be studied, but the convergence of these shifts in scientific practice has exposed critical limitations in classic and widely used behavioral paradigms. While our tools have advanced, our behavioral metrics – mostly developed in males and often allowing for only binary outcomes – have not. This opinion article explores how this disconnect has presented challenges for the accurate depiction and interpretation of sex differences in brain function, arguing for the expansion of current behavioral constructs to better account for behavioral diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]