Nature, Calcigender, Nurture: Sex-dependent differential Ca²⁺ homeostasis as the undervalued third pillar

Abstract

After many years of sometimes heated discussions, the problem regarding the relative importance of two classical dogmas of the Nature (genes and sex-steroid hormones) versus Nurture (education, teaching-learning etc.) debate, is still awaiting a conclusive solution. Males and females differ in only a few (primordial) genes as is well documented by genomic analyses. However, their sexand gender-specific behavior and physiology is nevertheless profoundly different, even if they grew up in a similar (educational) environment. By extending the "Calcigender-concept", originally formulated in 2015, to the simplistic binary Nature versus Nurture concept, a novel framework showing that the sex-steroid hormone-dependent intracellular Calcium concentration is an important third factor may emerge. Although the principles of animal physiology and evolution strongly stress the fact that Nature is always dominant, Nurture can, to a limited extent, play a mitigating role.