Cited by 855Sex and Gender in HealthcareAdvanced Neuroimaging Techniques and ApplicationsFunctional Brain Connectivity Studies

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Sex Differences in the Adult Human Brain: Evidence from 5216 UK Biobank Participants

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Ritchie, Stuart J, Cox, Simon R, Shen, Xueyi, Lombardo, Michael V, Reus, Lianne M, Alloza, Clara, Harris, Mathew A, Alderson, Helen L, Hunter, Stuart, Neilson, Emma, Liewald, David C M, Auyeung, Bonnie, Whalley, Heather C, Lawrie, Stephen M, Gale, Catharine R, Bastin, Mark E, McIntosh, Andrew M, Deary, Ian J·2018·Cerebral Cortex

DOI 10.1093/cercor/bhy109PMC PMC6041980

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Abstract

Sex differences in the human brain are of interest for many reasons: for example, there are sex differences in the observed prevalence of psychiatric disorders and in some psychological traits that brain differences might help to explain. We report the largest single-sample study of structural and functional sex differences in the human brain (2750 female, 2466 male participants; mean age 61.7 years, range 44-77 years). Males had higher raw volumes, raw surface areas, and white matter fractional anisotropy; females had higher raw cortical thickness and higher white matter tract complexity. There was considerable distributional overlap between the sexes. Subregional differences were not fully attributable to differences in total volume, total surface area, mean cortical thickness, or height. There was generally greater male variance across the raw structural measures. Functional connectome organization showed stronger connectivity for males in unimodal sensorimotor cortices, and stronger connectivity for females in the default mode network. This large-scale study provides a foundation for attempts to understand the causes and consequences of sex differences in adult brain structure and function.

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Authors: Ritchie, S. J., Cox, S. R., Shen, X., Lombardo, M. V., Reus, L. M., Alloza, C., Harris, M. A., Alderson, H. L., Hunter, S., Neilson, E., Liewald, D. C. M., Auyeung, B., Whalley, H. C., Lawrie, S. M., Gale, C. R., Bastin, M. E., McIntosh, A. M., & Deary, I. J.
Affiliations: University of Edinburgh (GB)
University of Cambridge (GB)
Amsterdam UMC Location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)
Queen Margaret Hospital (GB)
NHS Lothian (GB)
Department of Psychology, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
Corresponding author: Ritchie, Stuart J
ORCID: Ritchie, Stuart J
Shen, Xueyi
Lombardo, Michael V
Reus, Lianne M
Alloza, Clara
Harris, Mathew A
Neilson, Emma
Liewald, David C M
Whalley, Heather C
Lawrie, Stephen M
Bastin, Mark E
McIntosh, Andrew M
Deary, Ian J
Venue: Cerebral Cortex
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published: 2018-05-16
Volume: 28
Issue: 8
Pages: 2959-2975
ISSN: 1047-3211 (ISSN-L)
1460-2199
DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhy109
PMC: PMC6041980
OpenAlex: W2952574438
Cited by: 855
References: 125
Citations by year: 2026: 75 · 2025: 86 · 2024: 101 · 2023: 110 · 2022: 105 · 2021: 130 · 2020: 138 · 2019: 68 · 2018: 35
FWCI: 88.29
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: hybrid
doi.org
Licence: cc-by
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (vor)
Locations: Cerebral Cortex (publishedVersion, cc-by)
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Amsterdam UMC (VU Amsterdam) - Institutional Repository (publishedVersion, other-oa)
ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (acceptedVersion)
Pure Amsterdam UMC (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Edinburgh Research Explorer (University of Edinburgh) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders: CCACE (MR/K026992/1)
MRC (MR/M013111/1)
Dementias Platform UK (MR/L015382/1)
STRADL (104036/Z/14/Z)
Topics: Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Sex and Gender in Healthcare
Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
Keywords: sex differences, adult human brain, brain structure, brain function, brain volume, cortical thickness, white matter fractional anisotropy, functional connectome, default mode network, sensorimotor cortex, UK Biobank
MeSH terms: Adult, Aged, Brain, Brain Mapping, Female, United Kingdom, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Oxygen, Rest, Sex Characteristics, Biological Specimen Banks, Community Health Planning, Connectome, White Matter

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Sex Differences in the Adult Human Brain: Evidence from 5216 UK Biobank Participants

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