Faculty Collaboration Database

Greater male than female variability in regional brain structure across the lifespan. Hum Brain Mapp 2022 Jan;43(1):470-499

Date

10/13/2020

Pubmed ID

33044802

Pubmed Central ID

PMC8675415

DOI

10.1002/hbm.25204

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85092397145 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   52 Citations

Abstract

For many traits, males show greater variability than females, with possible implications for understanding sex differences in health and disease. Here, the ENIGMA (Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis) Consortium presents the largest-ever mega-analysis of sex differences in variability of brain structure, based on international data spanning nine decades of life. Subcortical volumes, cortical surface area and cortical thickness were assessed in MRI data of 16,683 healthy individuals 1-90 years old (47% females). We observed significant patterns of greater male than female between-subject variance for all subcortical volumetric measures, all cortical surface area measures, and 60% of cortical thickness measures. This pattern was stable across the lifespan for 50% of the subcortical structures, 70% of the regional area measures, and nearly all regions for thickness. Our findings that these sex differences are present in childhood implicate early life genetic or gene-environment interaction mechanisms. The findings highlight the importance of individual differences within the sexes, that may underpin sex-specific vulnerability to disorders.

Author List

Wierenga LM, Doucet GE, Dima D, Agartz I, Aghajani M, Akudjedu TN, Albajes-Eizagirre A, Alnaes D, Alpert KI, Andreassen OA, Anticevic A, Asherson P, Banaschewski T, Bargallo N, Baumeister S, Baur-Streubel R, Bertolino A, Bonvino A, Boomsma DI, Borgwardt S, Bourque J, den Braber A, Brandeis D, Breier A, Brodaty H, Brouwer RM, Buitelaar JK, Busatto GF, Calhoun VD, Canales-Rodríguez EJ, Cannon DM, Caseras X, Castellanos FX, Chaim-Avancini TM, Ching CR, Clark VP, Conrod PJ, Conzelmann A, Crivello F, Davey CG, Dickie EW, Ehrlich S, Van't Ent D, Fisher SE, Fouche JP, Franke B, Fuentes-Claramonte P, de Geus EJ, Di Giorgio A, Glahn DC, Gotlib IH, Grabe HJ, Gruber O, Gruner P, Gur RE, Gur RC, Gurholt TP, de Haan L, Haatveit B, Harrison BJ, Hartman CA, Hatton SN, Heslenfeld DJ, van den Heuvel OA, Hickie IB, Hoekstra PJ, Hohmann S, Holmes AJ, Hoogman M, Hosten N, Howells FM, Hulshoff Pol HE, Huyser C, Jahanshad N, James AC, Jiang J, Jönsson EG, Joska JA, Kalnin AJ, Karolinska Schizophrenia Project (KaSP) Consortium, Klein M, Koenders L, Kolskår KK, Krämer B, Kuntsi J, Lagopoulos J, Lazaro L, Lebedeva IS, Lee PH, Lochner C, Machielsen MW, Maingault S, Martin NG, Martínez-Zalacaín I, Mataix-Cols D, Mazoyer B, McDonald BC, McDonald C, McIntosh AM, McMahon KL, McPhilemy G, van der Meer D, Menchón JM, Naaijen J, Nyberg L, Oosterlaan J, Paloyelis Y, Pauli P, Pergola G, Pomarol-Clotet E, Portella MJ, Radua J, Reif A, Richard G, Roffman JL, Rosa PG, Sacchet MD, Sachdev PS, Salvador R, Sarró S, Satterthwaite TD, Saykin AJ, Serpa MH, Sim K, Simmons A, Smoller JW, Sommer IE, Soriano-Mas C, Stein DJ, Strike LT, Szeszko PR, Temmingh HS, Thomopoulos SI, Tomyshev AS, Trollor JN, Uhlmann A, Veer IM, Veltman DJ, Voineskos A, Völzke H, Walter H, Wang L, Wang Y, Weber B, Wen W, West JD, Westlye LT, Whalley HC, Williams SC, Wittfeld K, Wolf DH, Wright MJ, Yoncheva YN, Zanetti MV, Ziegler GC, de Zubicaray GI, Thompson PM, Crone EA, Frangou S, Tamnes CK

Author

Yang Wang MD Professor in the Radiology department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Biological Variation, Population
Brain
Cerebral Cortex
Female
Human Development
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Neuroimaging
Sex Characteristics