Dump the “dimorphism”: Comprehensive synthesis of human brain studies reveals few male-female differences beyond size

Eliot, Lise; Ahmed, Adnan; Khan, Hiba; Patel, Julie

doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.02.026

Cited by 270 publications

(287 citation statements)

References 382 publications

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“…Furthermore, there is comprehensive agreement many neurological disorders affect males and females divergently. For example, in autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, alcohol abuse, dyslexia, anxiety disorders, depression, and eating disorders (reviewed in Eliot et al, 2021). Moreover, Parkinson's disease, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, Ra-R2 deficiency, complete androgen insensitivity syndrome, aromatase deficiency (see Negri-Cesi et al, 2004).…”

Section: Sex / Gender As Mosaicmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, Parkinson's disease, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, Ra-R2 deficiency, complete androgen insensitivity syndrome, aromatase deficiency (see Negri-Cesi et al, 2004). These disparities suggest essential sex/gender differences in brain structure or function (see Eliot et al, 2021).…”

Section: Sex / Gender As Mosaicmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Confining sex/gender differences to psychiatric and neurological conditions alone would be negligent of science. To borrow from Eliot et al (2021), disparate occurrences of childhood disorders necessitate differences in the brain.…”

Section: Sex / Gender As Mosaicmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The authors conclude this reinforces the view "brain volume, gray matter (GM), and white matter (WM) are merely scaled to the rest of anticipated body morphology and unrelated to gender identity or behavior," leading to "the more parsimonious conclusion…that distinct markers of male and female identity do not exist." Furthermore, Eliot et al (2021) challenge the idea of a spectra of brain gender and add male and female psychological profiles are multidimensional mosaics of behavior. How can this be?…”

Section: Sex / Gender As Mosaicmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Human Brainnetome Atlas has subdivided the entire human brain into 210 cortical and 36 subcortical subregions (Fan et al, 2016). The majority of regions are similarly sized in males and females once corrected for total brain volume (TBV) (Eliot et al, 2021), leaving some regions dimorphic between the sexes. Research into the outcomes of differing brain size of itself is conflicting.…”

Section: Additionally;mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sex vs Gender: A Biological Location for Gender, not Sex.

Woodhill¹,

Samuels

2021

Preprint

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The origins of bodily sex are well understood, but consensus on origins for gender is missing. While gonadal sex and sexual orientation are accepted as emanating from genetic and hormonal templates, gender’s existence, when acknowledged, currently has so far emanated from either social origins or a nebulous ‘somewhere’ in the brain. Although sex-related behavior characteristics relative to the physicality of reproduction are dimorphic, other cognitive behaviors relative to reproduction have not been explicitly identified and presented. This article synthesizes necessary research to present a biological location of gender as opposed to sex. These cognitive behaviors can be differentially linked with reproduction throughout the lifespan. A physiological location for gender in the human phenotype may help advance this research further.

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Section: Sex / Gender As Mosaicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sex / Gender As Mosaicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sex / Gender As Mosaicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sex / Gender As Mosaicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Additionally;mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Sex vs Gender: A Biological Location for Gender, not Sex.

Woodhill¹,

Samuels

2021

Preprint

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Aspects of Area Deprivation Index in Relation to Hippocampal Volume Among Children

Ku,

Aberizk,

Feurer

et al. 2024

JAMA Netw Open

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ImportanceArea deprivation index (ADI) has been shown to be associated with reduced hippocampal volume (HV) among youths. The social environment may interact with the association between ADI and HV.ObjectiveTo investigate which aspects of ADI are uniquely associated with bilateral HV and whether school and family environments have moderating interactions in associations between ADI and HV.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis cross-sectional study used data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Participants aged 9 and 10 years were recruited from 21 sites in the US between September 2016 and August 2018. Data analysis was performed between March 2023 and April 2024.ExposuresADI aspects were derived from participant primary home addresses provided by parents or guardians.Main Outcomes and MeasuresHV was automatically segmented from structural brain images ascertained from magnetic resonance imaging. Multiple generalized linear mixed modeling tested associations between 9 indices of ADI and bilateral HV, with family groups and recruitment sites as random effects. After stepwise backward selection, models were adjusted for individual-level covariates, including age, sex, race and ethnicity, parental education, household income, and estimated intracranial volume.ResultsThis study included 10 114 participants aged 9 and 10 years (median [IQR] age, 9.92 [9.33-10.48] years; 5294 male [52.3%]; 200 Asian [2.0%], 1411 Black [14.0%], and 6655 White [65.8%]; 1959 Hispanic [19.4%]). After stepwise backward selection and adjusting for covariates, only the percentage of neighborhood-level single-parent households was associated with right HV (adjusted β per 1-SD increase in single-parent households, −0.03; 95% CI, −0.06 to −0.01; P = .01). School environment interacted with neighborhood-level single-parent households in its association with right HV (adjusted β per 1-SD increase in score, 0.02; 95% CI, 0.01 to 0.03; P = .003), such that there was an inverse association only among those at a school with the mean environment score (adjusted β per 1% increase in single-parent households, −0.03; 95% CI, −0.05 to −0.01; P = .02) and worse (−1 SD score) school environment score (adjusted β per 1% increase in single-parent households, −0.05; 95% CI, −0.09 to −0.01; P &lt; .001) but not among those at better (+1 SD score) school environments.Conclusions and RelevanceIn this study, an increased percentage of neighborhood-level single-parent households was associated with reduced right HV among children in schools with the mean or worse but not better environment score. These findings suggest that longitudinal research concerning the association of neighborhood-level characteristics and school environments with hippocampal development may be warranted to better understand complex interactions between various social factors and child neurodevelopment and mental health outcomes.

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The Binary Illusion

GRASENICK

2023

Neuroethics and Cultural Diversity

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Dump the “dimorphism”: Comprehensive synthesis of human brain studies reveals few male-female differences beyond size

Cited by 270 publications

References 382 publications

Sex vs Gender: A Biological Location for Gender, not Sex.

Sex vs Gender: A Biological Location for Gender, not Sex.

Aspects of Area Deprivation Index in Relation to Hippocampal Volume Among Children

The Binary Illusion

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