Open AccessAre Sex Differences in Human Brain Structure Associated With Sex Differences in Behavior?
Author(s) -
Liza van Eijk,
Dajiang Zhu,
Baptiste CouvyDuchesne,
Lachlan T. Strike,
Anthony J. Lee,
Narelle K. Hansell,
Paul M. Thompson,
Greig I. de Zubicaray,
Katie L. McMahon,
Margaret J. Wright,
Brendan P. Zietsch
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
psychological science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.641
H-Index - 260
eISSN - 1467-9280
pISSN - 0956-7976
DOI - 10.1177/0956797621996664
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , brain size , brain morphometry , sex characteristics , association (psychology) , human brain , brain activity and meditation , causality (physics) , connectome , brain structure and function , neuroimaging , neuroscience , functional connectivity , electroencephalography , medicine , magnetic resonance imaging , psychotherapist , radiology , physics , quantum mechanics , endocrinology
On average, men and women differ in brain structure and behavior, raising the possibility of a link between sex differences in brain and behavior. But women and men are also subject to different societal and cultural norms. We navigated this challenge by investigating variability of sex-differentiated brain structure within each sex. Using data from the Queensland Twin IMaging study ( n = 1,040) and Human Connectome Project ( n = 1,113), we obtained data-driven measures of individual differences along a male-female dimension for brain and behavior based on average sex differences in brain structure and behavior, respectively. We found a weak association between these brain and behavioral differences, driven by brain size. These brain and behavioral differences were moderately heritable. Our findings suggest that behavioral sex differences are, to some extent, related to sex differences in brain structure but that this is mainly driven by differences in brain size, and causality should be interpreted cautiously.