Open AccessGender differences in brain functional connectivity density
Author(s) -
Tomasi Dardo,
Volkow Nora D.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
human brain mapping
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.005
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1097-0193
pISSN - 1065-9471
DOI - 10.1002/hbm.21252
Subject(s) - hum , psychology , sexual dimorphism , functional connectivity , amygdala , cognition , functional magnetic resonance imaging , brain mapping , autism spectrum disorder , neuroscience , human brain , autism , developmental psychology , medicine , art , performance art , art history
The neural bases of gender differences in emotional, cognitive, and socials behaviors are largely unknown. Here, magnetic resonance imaging data from 336 women and 225 men revealed a gender dimorphism in the functional organization of the brain. Consistently across five research sites, women had 14% higher local functional connectivity density ( l FCD) and up to 5% higher gray matter density than men in cortical and subcortical regions. The negative power scaling of the l FCD was steeper for men than for women, suggesting that the balance between strongly and weakly connected nodes in the brain is different across genders. The more distributed organization of the male brain than that of the female brain could help explain the gender differences in cognitive style and behaviors and in the prevalence of neuropsychiatric diseases (i.e., autism spectrum disorder). Hum Brain Mapp, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.