Novel findings from 2,838 Adult Brains on Sex Differences in Gray Matter Brain Volume

There is still disagreement among studies with respect to the magnitude, location, and direction of sex differences of local gray matter volume (GMV) in the human brain. Here, we applied a state-of-the-art technique examining GMV in a well-powered sample (n = 2,838) validating effects in two indepen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports Vol. 9; no. 1; p. 1671
Main Authors: Lotze, Martin, Domin, Martin, Gerlach, Florian H., Gaser, Christian, Lueders, Eileen, Schmidt, Carsten O., Neumann, Nicola
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 08.02.2019
Nature Publishing Group
Subjects:
631/378/1804/1805
631/378/2649
Amygdala
Cerebellum
Cognition
Cortex (motor)
Cortex (premotor)
Gender differences
Humanities and Social Sciences
Magnetic resonance imaging
multidisciplinary
Prefrontal cortex
Putamen
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Sensorimotor integration
Sex differences
Substantia grisea
Superior temporal sulcus
Temporal lobe
Visual cortex
ISSN:2045-2322, 2045-2322
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:There is still disagreement among studies with respect to the magnitude, location, and direction of sex differences of local gray matter volume (GMV) in the human brain. Here, we applied a state-of-the-art technique examining GMV in a well-powered sample (n = 2,838) validating effects in two independent general-population cohorts, age range 21–90 years, measured using the same MRI scanner. More GMV in women than in men was prominent in medial and lateral prefrontal areas, the superior temporal sulcus, the posterior insula, and orbitofrontal cortex. In contrast, more GMV in men than in women was detected in subcortical temporal structures, such as the amygdala, hippocampus, temporal pole, fusiform gyrus, visual primary cortex, and motor areas (premotor cortex, putamen, anterior cerebellum). The findings in this large-scale study may clarify previous inconsistencies and contribute to the understanding of sex-specific differences in cognition and behavior.
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ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-018-38239-2