Greater male than female variability in regional brain structure across the lifespan

• Published in: Human brain mapping Vol. 43; no. 1; pp. 470 - 499
• Main Authors: Dima, Danai, Aghajani, Moji, Akudjedu, Theophilus N, Albajes‐Eizagirre, Anton, Alnæs, Dag, Alpert, Kathryn I, Andreassen, Ole A, Banaschewski, Tobias, Baumeister, Sarah, Bonvino, Aurora, Brandeis, Daniel, Breier, Alan, Brouwer, Rachel M, Busatto, Geraldo F, Cannon, Dara M, Caseras, Xavier, Ching, Christopher RK, Conzelmann, Annette, Crivello, Fabrice, Dickie, Erin W, Ent, Dennis, Fisher, Simon E, Franke, Barbara, Fuentes‐Claramonte, Paola, Di Giorgio, Annabella, Gotlib, Ian H, Grabe, Hans J, Gruber, Oliver, Gruner, Patricia, Gurholt, Tiril P, Haan, Lieuwe, Haatveit, Beathe, Harrison, Ben J, Hartman, Catharina A, Hatton, Sean N, Hoekstra, Pieter J, Hohmann, Sarah, Howells, Fleur M, Hulshoff Pol, Hilleke E, Jahanshad, Neda, James, Anthony C, Jiang, Jiyang, Jönsson, Erik G, Kalnin, Andrew J, Koenders, Laura, Kuntsi, Jonna, Lazaro, Luisa, Lebedeva, Irina S, Lochner, Christine, Machielsen, Marise WJ, Maingault, Sophie, Martínez‐Zalacaín, Ignacio, Mataix‐Cols, David, Mazoyer, Bernard, McDonald, Colm, McIntosh, Andrew M, McMahon, Katie L, McPhilemy, Genevieve, Meer, Dennis, Menchón, José M, Naaijen, Jilly, Nyberg, Lars, Oosterlaan, Jaap, Paloyelis, Yannis, Pergola, Giulio, Pomarol‐Clotet, Edith, Portella, Maria J, Radua, Joaquim, Reif, Andreas, Richard, Geneviève, Roffman, Joshua L, Sachdev, Perminder S, Satterthwaite, Theodore D, Serpa, Mauricio H, Simmons, Andrew, Smoller, Jordan W, Stein, Dan J, Strike, Lachlan T, Szeszko, Philip R, Thomopoulos, Sophia I, Tomyshev, Alexander S, Trollor, Julian N, Veer, Ilya M, Veltman, Dick J, Voineskos, Aristotle, Völzke, Henry, Walter, Henrik, Wang, Lei, Wang, Yang, West, John D, Whalley, Heather C, Williams, Steven CR, Wolf, Daniel H, Wright, Margaret J, Yoncheva, Yuliya N, Zanetti, Marcus V, Zubicaray, Greig I, Thompson, Paul M, Crone, Eveline A, Tamnes, Christian K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.01.2022
• Subjects: Age; Biological Variation, Population - physiology; Brain; Brain - anatomy & histology; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain Cortical Thickness; Cerebral Cortex - anatomy & histology; Cerebral Cortex - diagnostic imaging; Children; Chromosomes; Female; Females; Gender aspects; Gender differences; Genetics; Human Development - physiology; Humans; Life span; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Males; Neuroimaging; Sex Characteristics; Sex differences; Surface area; Thickness measurement; Variability; Working groups
• ISSN: 1065-9471; 1097-0193; 1097-0193
• DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25204

For many traits, males show greater variability than females, with possible implications for understanding sex differences in health and disease. Here, the ENIGMA (Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics through Meta‐Analysis) Consortium presents the largest‐ever mega‐analysis of sex differences in variability of brain structure, based on international data spanning nine decades of life. Subcortical volumes, cortical surface area and cortical thickness were assessed in MRI data of 16,683 healthy individuals 1‐90 years old (47% females). We observed significant patterns of greater male than female between‐subject variance for all subcortical volumetric measures, all cortical surface area measures, and 60% of cortical thickness measures. This pattern was stable across the lifespan for 50% of the subcortical structures, 70% of the regional area measures, and nearly all regions for thickness. Our findings that these sex differences are present in childhood implicate early life genetic or gene‐environment interaction mechanisms. The findings highlight the importance of individual differences within the sexes, that may underpin sex‐specific vulnerability to disorders.