Neuroimaging Research Unit, Institute of Experimental Neurology, Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute University, Hospital San Raffaele, Milan, Italy.
Hum Brain Mapp. 2013 Jun;34(6):1330-43. doi: 10.1002/hbm.21514. Epub 2012 Feb 22.
To investigate, using resting state (RS) functional MRI (fMRI), gender-related differences of functional connectivity (FC) and functional network connectivity (FNC) of the human brain.
One-hundred and four young healthy subjects (48/56 men/women), aged between 20 and 29 years, underwent a 10-min RS fMRI acquisition. Independent component analysis (ICA) and statistical parametric mapping were used to assess gender-related differences in RSNs, with and without correction for regional gray matter (GM) volume. The relationships among all RSNs was also assessed using a FNC method.
For all networks, significant between-group differences of RS activity were found. Between-group comparisons of RSNs changed when adjusting for GM volume, as follows: (1) there was only marginal effect on the analysis of sensory (i.e., sensorimotor, visual, and auditory) networks; and (2) there was a significantly increased difference when cognitive networks (apart from one related to attention) were considered. Compared with women, men experienced increased FC in parietal and occipital regions in most RSNs, whereas women experienced a higher RS FC in frontal and temporal regions, and in the cerebellum. When compared to women, increased FNC was found in men between several cognitive and sensory networks, whereas women showed an increased FNC only between attention and right working-memory networks.
The organization of intrinsic FC and FNC differ between genders. The detected differences could contribute to the understanding of the known between-gender variation in task-related recruitments, and the patterns of abnormalities detected in neurologic and psychiatric diseases with a gender prevalence.
利用静息态功能磁共振成像 (rs-fMRI) 研究人脑功能连接 (FC) 和功能网络连接 (FNC) 的性别差异。
104 名年龄在 20 至 29 岁之间的年轻健康受试者（48/56 名男性/女性）接受了 10 分钟 rs-fMRI 采集。采用独立成分分析 (ICA) 和统计参数映射来评估 RSN 在不校正局部灰质 (GM) 体积和校正 GM 体积情况下的性别差异。还使用 FNC 方法评估了所有 RSN 之间的关系。
对于所有网络，均发现 RS 活性存在显著的组间差异。在调整 GM 体积后，RSN 的组间比较发生了变化，具体如下：(1) 在对感觉（即感觉运动、视觉和听觉）网络的分析中，只有边缘效应；(2) 当考虑认知网络（除一个与注意力相关的网络外）时，差异显著增加。与女性相比，男性在大多数 RSN 中经历了顶叶和枕叶区域的 FC 增加，而女性在额叶和颞叶区域以及小脑中经历了更高的 RS FC。与女性相比，男性在几个认知和感觉网络之间的 FNC 增加，而女性仅在注意力和右工作记忆网络之间的 FNC 增加。
内在 FC 和 FNC 的组织在性别之间存在差异。所检测到的差异可能有助于理解与性别相关的任务招募中的已知性别差异，以及具有性别流行率的神经和精神疾病中检测到的异常模式。
