Sex differences and brain development during puberty and adolescence

Adolescent subcortical structural brain development might underlie psychopathological symptoms, which often emerge in adolescence. At the same time, sex differences exist in psychopathology, which might be mirrored in underlying sex differences in structural development. However, previous studies showed inconsistencies in subcortical trajectories and potential sex differences. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the subcortical structural trajectories and their sex differences across adolescence using for the first time a single cohort design, the same quality control procedure, software and a general additive mixed modeling approach. We investigated two large European sites from ages 14 to 24 with 503 participants and 1408 total scans from France and Germany as part of the IMAGEN project including four waves of data acquisition. We found significantly larger volumes in males versus females in both sites and across all seven subcortical regions. Sex differences in age-related trajectories were observed across all regions in both sites. Our findings provide further evidence of sex differences in longitudinal adolescent brain development of subcortical regions and thus might eventually support the relationship of underlying brain development and different adolescent psychopathology in boys and girls.

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M92 SEX-DIFFERENCES IN BRAIN DEVELOPMENT CORRESPOND TO SEX-DIFFERENCES IN THE AGE OF ONSET FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA

European Neuropsychopharmacology ◽

10.1016/j.euroneuro.2019.08.192 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 29 ◽

pp. S215-S216

Author(s):

Chuan Jiao ◽

Richard Kopp ◽

Elizabeth Kuney ◽

Chao Chen ◽

Chunyu Liu

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Brain Development ◽

Age Of Onset

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Evidence of Altered Brain Sexual Differentiation in Mice Exposed Perinatally to Low, Environmentally Relevant Levels of Bisphenol A

Endocrinology ◽

10.1210/en.2006-0189 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 147 (8) ◽

pp. 3681-3691 ◽

Cited By ~ 210

Author(s):

Beverly S. Rubin ◽

Jenny R. Lenkowski ◽

Cheryl M. Schaeberle ◽

Laura N. Vandenberg ◽

Paul M. Ronsheim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Bisphenol A ◽

Brain Development ◽

Sexual Differentiation ◽

Female Offspring ◽

Sexually Dimorphic ◽

Critical Periods ◽

Neuron Number ◽

Brain Sexual Differentiation ◽

Estrogenic Chemical

Humans are routinely exposed to bisphenol A (BPA), an estrogenic chemical present in food and beverage containers, dental composites, and many products in the home and workplace. BPA binds both classical nuclear estrogen receptors and facilitates membrane-initiated estrogenic effects. Here we explore the ability of environmentally relevant exposure to BPA to affect anatomical and functional measures of brain development and sexual differentiation. Anatomical evidence of alterations in brain sexual differentiation were examined in male and female offspring born to mouse dams exposed to 0, 25, or 250 ng BPA/kg body weight per day from the evening of d 8 of gestation through d 16 of lactation. These studies examined the sexually dimorphic population of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) neurons in the rostral periventricular preoptic area, an important brain region for estrous cyclicity and estrogen-positive feedback. The significant sex differences in TH neuron number observed in control offspring were diminished or obliterated in offspring exposed to BPA primarily because of a decline in TH neuron number in BPA-exposed females. As a functional endpoint of BPA action on brain sexual differentiation, we examined the effects of perinatal BPA exposure on sexually dimorphic behaviors in the open field. Data from these studies revealed significant sex differences in the vehicle-exposed offspring that were not observed in the BPA-exposed offspring. These data indicate that BPA may be capable of altering important events during critical periods of brain development.

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Maturational Trajectories of Cortical Brain Development through the Pubertal Transition: Unique Species and Sex Differences in the Monkey Revealed through Structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Cerebral Cortex ◽

10.1093/cercor/bhp166 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 20 (5) ◽

pp. 1053-1063 ◽

Cited By ~ 62

Author(s):

Rebecca C. Knickmeyer ◽

Martin Styner ◽

Sarah J. Short ◽

Gabriele R. Lubach ◽

Chaeryon Kang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽

Sex Differences ◽

Magnetic Resonance ◽

Brain Development ◽

Resonance Imaging ◽

Structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽

Unique Species ◽

Pubertal Transition

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Small cells with big implications: Microglia and sex differences in brain development, plasticity and behavioral health

Progress in Neurobiology ◽

10.1016/j.pneurobio.2018.09.002 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 176 ◽

pp. 103-119 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Lars H. Nelson ◽

Angela I. Saulsbery ◽

Kathryn M. Lenz

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Brain Development ◽

Behavioral Health ◽

Small Cells

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Sex differences in the gut microbiome–brain axis across the lifespan

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2015.0122 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 371 (1688) ◽

pp. 20150122 ◽

Cited By ~ 80

Author(s):

Eldin Jašarević ◽

Kathleen E. Morrison ◽

Tracy L. Bale

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Brain Development ◽

Cross Talk ◽

Gut Microbiome ◽

Disease Risk ◽

Sexually Dimorphic ◽

Risk And Resilience ◽

Functional Potential ◽

Bidirectional Communication ◽

The Brain

In recent years, the bidirectional communication between the gut microbiome and the brain has emerged as a factor that influences immunity, metabolism, neurodevelopment and behaviour. Cross-talk between the gut and brain begins early in life immediately following the transition from a sterile in utero environment to one that is exposed to a changing and complex microbial milieu over a lifetime. Once established, communication between the gut and brain integrates information from the autonomic and enteric nervous systems, neuroendocrine and neuroimmune signals, and peripheral immune and metabolic signals. Importantly, the composition and functional potential of the gut microbiome undergoes many transitions that parallel dynamic periods of brain development and maturation for which distinct sex differences have been identified. Here, we discuss the sexually dimorphic development, maturation and maintenance of the gut microbiome–brain axis, and the sex differences therein important in disease risk and resilience throughout the lifespan.

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Sex Effects on Development of Brain Structure and Executive Functions: Greater Variance than Mean Effects

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn_a_01375 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 31 (5) ◽

pp. 730-753 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Lara M. Wierenga ◽

Marieke G. N. Bos ◽

Fabienne van Rossenberg ◽

Eveline A. Crone

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Sex Differences ◽

Reading Comprehension ◽

Executive Functions ◽

Brain Development ◽

Brain Structure ◽

Memory Task ◽

Data Set ◽

Sex Effects ◽

Brain Age

Although male brains have consistently reported to be 8–10% larger than female brains, it remains not well understood whether there are differences between sexes (average or variance) in developmental trajectories. Furthermore, if sex differences in average brain growth or variance are observed, it is unknown whether these sex differences have behavioral relevance. The present longitudinal study aimed to unravel sex effects in cortical brain structure, development, and variance, in relation to the development of educationally relevant cognitive domains and executive functions (EFs). This was assessed with three experimental tasks including working memory, reading comprehension, and fluency. In addition, real-life aspects of EF were assessed with self- and parent-reported Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function scores. The full data set included 271 participants (54% female) aged between 8 and 29 years of which three waves were collected at 2-year intervals, resulting in 680 T1-weighted MRI scans and behavioral measures. Analyses of average trajectories confirmed general age-related patterns of brain development but did not support the hypothesis of sex differences in brain development trajectories, except for left banks STS where boys had a steeper decline in surface area than girls. Also, our brain age prediction model (including 270 brain measures) did not indicate delayed maturation in boys compared with girls. Interestingly, support was found for greater variance in male brains than female brains in both structure and development, consistent with prior cross-sectional studies. Behaviorally, boys performed on average better on a working memory task with a spatial aspect and girls performed better on a reading comprehension task, but there was no relation between brain development and cognitive performance, neither for average brain measures, brain age, or variance measures. Taken together, we confirmed the hypothesis of greater males within-group variance in brain structures compared with females, but these were not related to EF. The sex differences observed in EF were not related to brain development, possibly suggesting that these are related to experiences and strategies rather than biological development.

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