Gender differences in white matter microstructure.

Bibliographic Details
Title:	Gender differences in white matter microstructure.
Authors:	Richard A Kanaan, Matthew Allin, Marco Picchioni, Gareth J Barker, Eileen Daly, Sukhwinder S Shergill, James Woolley, Philip K McGuire
Source:	PLoS ONE, Vol 7, Iss 6, p e38272 (2012)
Publisher Information:	Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2012.
Publication Year:	2012
Collection:	LCC:Medicine LCC:Science
Subject Terms:	Medicine, Science
More Details:	Sexual dimorphism in human brain structure is well recognised, but little is known about gender differences in white matter microstructure. We used diffusion tensor imaging to explore differences in fractional anisotropy (FA), an index of microstructural integrity.A whole brain analysis of 135 matched subjects (90 men and 45 women) using a 1.5 T scanner. A region of interest (ROI) analysis was used to confirm those results where proximity to CSF raised the possibility of partial-volume artefact.Men had higher fractional anisotropy (FA) in cerebellar white matter and in the left superior longitudinal fasciculus; women had higher FA in the corpus callosum, confirmed by ROI.The size of the differences was substantial--of the same order as that attributed to some pathology--suggesting gender may be a potentially significant confound in unbalanced clinical studies. There are several previous reports of difference in the corpus callosum, though they disagree on the direction of difference; our findings in the cerebellum and the superior longitudinal fasciculus have not previously been noted. The higher FA in women may reflect greater efficiency of a smaller corpus callosum. The relatively increased superior longitudinal fasciculus and cerebellar FA in men may reflect their increased language lateralisation and enhanced motor development, respectively.
Document Type:	article
File Description:	electronic resource
Language:	English
ISSN:	1932-6203
Relation:	http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3368921?pdf=render; https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pone.0038272
Access URL:	https://doaj.org/article/f46b17cc98894d1f88ccb37502922768
Accession Number:	edsdoj.f46b17cc98894d1f88ccb37502922768
Database:	Directory of Open Access Journals

More Details
ISSN:	19326203
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pone.0038272
Published in:	PLoS ONE
Language:	English