Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • NEWS AND VIEWS

X chromosome passed from mother to daughter influences brain ageing

Older female mice show poor spatial memory when their paternal X chromosome is inactive and only the maternal copy is active. This phenomenon could be responsible for variation in age-related cognitive decline among women.
By
  1. Daniel M. Snell

    1. Daniel M. Snell is at the Francis Crick Institute, London NW1 1AT, UK.

  2. James M. A. Turner

    1. James M. A. Turner is at the Francis Crick Institute, London NW1 1AT, UK.

View saved research

In her 1969 autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, poet and author Maya Angelou remembers her mother as both a hurricane and a rainbow, symbolizing the contrasting nature of the extremes of their relationship. Writing in Nature, Abdulai-Saiku et al.1 report a study in mice showing that gene-expression patterns that are passed from mothers to daughters might have similarly contrasting effects on memory at different stages of life. In doing so, they present new evidence for the paradigm of ‘inter-female’ variation.

Access options

Access through your institution

Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals

Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription

$39.99 / 30 days cancel any time
Learn more

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

$1.95 to $39.95
Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 638, 45-47 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-00079-2

References

  1. Abdulai-Saiku, S. et al. Nature 638, 152–159 (2025).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Brown, G. J. et al. Nature 605, 349–356 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Dumanski, J. P. et al. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 98, 1208–1219 (2016).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Raznahan, A. & Disteche, C. M. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 120, 28–47 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Skuse, D. H. et al. Nature 387, 705–708 (1997).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Davies, W. et al. Nature Genet. 37, 625–629 (2005).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Raefski, A. S. & O’Neill, M. J. Nature Genet. 37, 620–624 (2005).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Arnold, A. P. & Chen, X. Front. Neuroendocrinol. 30, 1–9 (2009).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Tukiainen, T. et al. Nature 550, 244–248 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Regev, A. et al. eLife 6, e27041 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Related Articles

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing