Brain Structure May Dictate Behavior

In that the prevalence, age of onset, and symptomology of neuropsychiatric conditions often differs between men and women, Amber Ruigrok, from Cambridge University (United Kingdom), and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of 126 published studies in which brain volumes of males and females, ranging in age from birth to 80 years, were completed. The researchers found that, on average, man had larger brain volumes (by up to 13%), as compared to women. Men also had larger absolute volumes of intracranial space, total brain, cerebral, gray matter, white matter, cerebral spinal fluid regions, and cerebellum, as compared to women. Interestingly, the team observed differences in volume between the sexes to be located in parts of the limbic system and language system – loving them to observe that: “Regional sex differences in volume and tissue density include the amygdala, hippocampus and insula, areas known to be implicated in sex-biased neuropsychiatric conditions.”  The study authors conclude that: “these results suggest candidate regions for investigating the asymmetric effect that sex has on the developing brain, and for understanding sex-biased neurological and psychiatric conditions.”`