Abstract
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.
Highlights
While meta-analyses have an enormous advantage over single studies in terms of statistical power, they are not immune to other pitfalls[3,4], such as related to data acquisition, image analysis, and the transfer of peak coordinates
Analyzing Cohort 1, in women, on average larger gray matter volume (GMV) was prominent in bilateral prefrontal areas, such as the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, the medial and lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), the anterior cingulate cortex, the frontal pole, and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
In men, on average larger GMV was evident in bilateral temporal areas, such as the parahippocampal gyrus, the hippocampus (Hi), the amygdala (Am), the temporal pole (TP), and the fusiform gyrus (FG), as well as the bilateral putamen (Pu), anterior cerebellar, and left primary visual cortex (BA 17, 18)
Summary
In men (men > women), on average larger GMV was evident in bilateral temporal areas, such as the parahippocampal gyrus, the hippocampus (Hi), the amygdala (Am), the temporal pole (TP), and the fusiform gyrus (FG), as well as the bilateral putamen (Pu), anterior cerebellar (aCBH, Larsell’s lobule IV-VII), and left primary visual cortex (BA 17, 18). On average, women had larger GMV (women > men) in bilateral vlPFC (BA47), medial and lateral OFC, ACC, frontal pole (BA 10), lateral occipital lobe (BA 19), right Heschl gyrus, bilateral dlPFC (BA 45,46), posterior insula, precuneus, STS, left thalamus and SPL and right posterior cerebellar hemisphere and IPL. Younger men had larger GMV in the anterior-inferior hippocampus than younger women (t = 8.21; Cohens d = 0.31; 603 voxels in ROI; MNI-coordinates: −21, −2, −22) Both effects were only observed for the left hemisphere. A detailed list of different regions between men and women is provided in Tables 1 and 2
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