Men and women are different: Diffusion tensor imaging reveals sexual dimorphism in the microstructure of the thalamus, corpus callosum and cingulum

Menzler, Katja; Belke, Marcus; Wehrmann, E.; Krakow, Karsten; Lengler, Ulrike; Jansen, Andreas; Hamer, Hajo M.; Oertel, Wolfgang H.; Rosenow, Felix; Knake, Susanne

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.11.029

Cited by 218 publications

(128 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Sex-related differences in this region had been previously found, but with inconsistencies between studies using VBM and manual segmentation. 14,16,44 Our findings regarding patients with AS substantiate the view that atypical expression of sex differences is linked to the etiology of AS. Because the key findings were interactions between sex and diagnosis, this indicates that investigating atypical sexual dimorphism in AS is essential to gain insight into the etiology of the condition.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

“…5 Our results concerning differences between control males and females in white matter volume and FA are concordant with existing literature. 8,10,[15][16][17] No sex difference was found for total gray matter volume, which previous studies have inconsistently reported to be larger in males. 11,12 We found a significant interaction in the anatomy of the right inferior parietal lobe, which had increased gray matter volume in males versus females for controls but not patients with AS.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 59%

“…[12][13][14][15] DTI studies measuring FA indicate higher white matter density in the CC, cingulum bundle, and thalamocortical projection fibers in males. 16,17 On the other hand, subtle neuroanatomic abnormalities have been reported for ASCs across many brain regions, including frontal, parietal, limbic areas, basal ganglia, and the cerebellum. [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] In some investigations, total brain volume 26,27 and amygdala volume 27,28 are identified as abnormal.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Autism Attenuates Sex Differences in Brain Structure: A Combined Voxel-Based Morphometry and Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study

Beacher¹,

Minati²,

Baron‐Cohen³

et al. 2011

AJNR Am J Neuroradiol

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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:It has been proposed that autism spectrums condition may represent a form of extreme male brain (EMB), a notion supported by psychometric, behavioral, and endocrine evidence. Yet, limited data are presently available evaluating this hypothesis in terms of neuroanatomy. Here, we investigated sex-related anatomic features in adults with AS, a "pure" form of autism not involving major developmental delay.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 59%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Autism Attenuates Sex Differences in Brain Structure: A Combined Voxel-Based Morphometry and Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study

Beacher¹,

Minati²,

Baron‐Cohen³

et al. 2011

AJNR Am J Neuroradiol

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“…Males have more rapid increases in white matter volume during development (45) and have greater structural integrity in white matter tracts connecting the vmPFC and amygdala/hippocampus (46,47). These differences may confer greater protection in males following maltreatment experiences, although this hypothesis would require further study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Childhood maltreatment is associated with altered fear circuitry and increased internalizing symptoms by late adolescence

Herringa

Birn

Ruttle

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

364

314

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Maltreatment during childhood is a major risk factor for anxiety and depression, which are major public health problems. However, the underlying brain mechanism linking maltreatment and internalizing disorders remains poorly understood. Maltreatment may alter the activation of fear circuitry, but little is known about its impact on the connectivity of this circuitry in adolescence and whether such brain changes actually lead to internalizing symptoms. We examined the associations between experiences of maltreatment during childhood, resting-state functional brain connectivity (rs-FC) of the amygdala and hippocampus, and internalizing symptoms in 64 adolescents participating in a longitudinal community study. Childhood experiences of maltreatment were associated with lower hippocampus-subgenual cingulate rs-FC in both adolescent females and males and lower amygdalasubgenual cingulate rs-FC in females only. Furthermore, rs-FC mediated the association of maltreatment during childhood with adolescent internalizing symptoms. Thus, maltreatment in childhood, even at the lower severity levels found in a community sample, may alter the regulatory capacity of the brain's fear circuit, leading to increased internalizing symptoms by late adolescence. These findings highlight the importance of fronto-hippocampal connectivity for both sexes in internalizing symptoms following maltreatment in childhood. Furthermore, the impact of maltreatment during childhood on both fronto-amygdala and -hippocampal connectivity in females may help explain their higher risk for internalizing disorders such as anxiety and depression.child maltreatment | sex differences | ventromedial prefrontal cortex I n both clinical and community samples, maltreatment during childhood represents one of the strongest risk factors for developing depression and anxiety (1-3). Childhood maltreatment and other adversities account for up to a third of the risk for mood and anxiety disorders (4). Further, depression and anxiety disorders are major public health problems, affecting 15 and 32% of youth, respectively, by the age of 18 y (5). The burden of these disorders is significant, representing the second and fifth leading causes, respectively, of years lived with disability in the United States (6). Some evidence suggests that maltreatment may impart greater risk for the development of internalizing symptoms in females than in males (e.g., refs. 7-9). This differential risk could account, in part, for the higher incidence of internalizing problems in females than in males (10, 11). However, the neurobiological pathways from maltreatment during childhood to the expression of internalizing problems, including potential differences for females and males, remain poorly understood. Such information is crucial for improving the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders and for mitigating the effects of maltreatment during childhood.Both maltreatment during childhood (12) and internalizing disorders (13, 14) have been associated with altered activity in specific b...

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“…Sex differences in associations between task-related activation (or de-activation) and response inhibition performance may indicate sex differences in task-related 'processing strategies' (Liu et al, 2012). White matter microstructural differences suggest sex differences in the thalamus's role in cortico-striatalthalamo-cortical circuit function (Menzler et al, 2011). Sex differences in thalamic activation in FHP may reflect sex differences in mechanisms of addiction vulnerability.…”

Section: Family History-by-sex Interactions In the Thalamusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural Correlates of Impulsivity in Healthy Males and Females with Family Histories of Alcoholism

DeVito

Meda

Jiantonio

et al. 2013

Neuropsychopharmacol

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Individuals family-history positive (FHP) for alcoholism have increased risk for the disorder, which may be mediated by intermediate behavioral traits such as impulsivity. Given the sex differences in the risk for and clinical presentation of addictive disorders, risk for addiction may be differentially mediated by impulsivity within FHP males and females. FHP (N ¼ 28) and family-history negative (FHN, N ¼ 31) healthy, non-substance-abusing adults completed an fMRI Go/No-Go task and were assessed on impulsivity and alcohol use. Effects of family history and sex were investigated as were associations between neural correlates of impulse control and out-ofscanner measures of impulsivity and alcohol use. FHP individuals showed greater activation in the left anterior insula and inferior frontal gyrus during successful inhibitions, an effect that was driven primarily by FHP males. Higher self-reported impulsivity and behavioral discounting impulsivity, but not alcohol use measures, were associated with greater BOLD signal in the region that differentiated the FHP and FHN groups. Impulsivity factors were associated with alcohol use measures across the FHP and FHN groups. These findings are consistent with increased risk for addiction among FHP individuals being conferred through disrupted function within neural systems important for impulse control. Keywords: impulsivity; family history of alcoholism; insula; inferior frontal gyrus (IFG); addiction; sex differences. INTRODUCTIONAlcohol use disorders (AUDs) are prevalent and associated with detrimental health and societal outcomes (Li, 2008). Individuals with a family history of alcoholism (familyhistory positive (FHP)) have increased risk for alcoholism driven by genetic and environmental factors (Lieb et al, 2002;Slutske et al, 2002). Healthy FHPs model addiction vulnerability without confounding effects of excess alcohol on cognition and brain function.Increased AUD risk among FHPs may be conferred via heritable impulsive tendencies (Dick et al, 2010;Tessner and Hill, 2010). Impulsivity is a multi-factorial construct, where distinct sub-components appear to have differential neural bases and relationships with addiction (de Wit, 2009;Lejuez et al, 2010;Rogers et al, 2010). Aspects of impulsivity may both predispose to and be exacerbated by addictive behaviors. Impulsivity predicts development of AUDs; is higher in FHPs with more alcohol-dependent relatives (ie higher family-history load); and partially mediates the relationship between FHP and alcohol and substance use disorder (for review, see de Wit, 2009;Dick et al, 2010;Lejuez et al, 2010;Verdejo-Garcia et al, 2008). Other less well-studied impulsivity-related constructs (eg, sensationseeking, risk-taking, compulsivity, behavioural activation/ inhibition, reward/punishment sensitivity) have been related to addiction vulnerability, and addictions therefore warrant consideration (eg, Meda et al, 2009).Sex differences are important to consider as they are observable for rates, clinical presentation, and health cons...

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Men and women are different: Diffusion tensor imaging reveals sexual dimorphism in the microstructure of the thalamus, corpus callosum and cingulum

Cited by 218 publications

References 55 publications

Autism Attenuates Sex Differences in Brain Structure: A Combined Voxel-Based Morphometry and Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study

Autism Attenuates Sex Differences in Brain Structure: A Combined Voxel-Based Morphometry and Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study

Childhood maltreatment is associated with altered fear circuitry and increased internalizing symptoms by late adolescence

Neural Correlates of Impulsivity in Healthy Males and Females with Family Histories of Alcoholism

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