Department of Psychiatry, Functional NeuroImaging Unit - PET & fMRI, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
Neuroimage. 2010 Jan 15;49(2):1205-12. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.09.046. Epub 2009 Sep 28.
Previous studies suggest organizing effects of sex hormones on brain structure during early life and puberty, yet little is known about the adult period. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the role of 17beta-estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone on cortical sex differences in grey matter volume (GM) of the adult human brain. To assess sexual dimorphism, voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was applied on structural magnetic resonance images of 34 healthy, young adult humans (17 women, 17 men, 26.6+/-5 years) using analyses of covariance. Subsequently, circulating levels of sex hormones were associated with regional GM using linear regression analyses. After adjustment for sex and total GM, significant associations of regional GM and 17beta-estradiol were observed in the left inferior frontal gyrus (beta=0.39, p=0.02). Regional GM was inversely associated with testosterone in the left inferior frontal gyrus (beta=-0.16, p=0.04), and with progesterone in the right temporal pole (beta=-0.39, p=0.008). Our findings indicate that even in young adulthood, sex hormones exert organizing effects on regional GM. This might help to shed further light on the underlying mechanisms of both functional diversities and congruence between female and male brains.
先前的研究表明，性激素在生命早期和青春期对大脑结构具有组织作用，但对于成年期的情况知之甚少。本研究旨在阐明 17β-雌二醇、孕酮和睾酮对成年人大脑灰质体积（GM）的皮质性别差异的作用。为了评估性别二态性，我们使用协方差分析对 34 名健康年轻成年人（17 名女性，17 名男性，26.6±5 岁）的结构磁共振图像进行了基于体素的形态计量学（VBM）分析。随后，使用线性回归分析将循环性激素水平与局部 GM 相关联。在调整性别和总 GM 后，我们观察到左侧额下回的局部 GM 与 17β-雌二醇呈显著相关（β=0.39，p=0.02）。局部 GM 与左侧额下回的睾酮呈负相关（β=-0.16，p=0.04），与右侧颞极的孕酮呈负相关（β=-0.39，p=0.008）。我们的发现表明，即使在成年早期，性激素对局部 GM 也具有组织作用。这可能有助于进一步阐明女性和男性大脑之间功能多样性和一致性的潜在机制。
