Based in part on recent evidence showing that Pink1–/– rats model the increased vulnerability of male PD patients for non-motor deficits in cognition and memory (Desai et al., 2025; Desai et al., 2025; Kelm-Nelson et al., 2021), it was hypothesized that this strain would also recapitulate the greater vulnerability of female PD patients to anxiety disturbances. The gene discussed is PINK1; the disease is Parkinson disease.