Research Center for Sectional and Imaging Anatomy, Shandong University Cheeloo College of Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China.
School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, China.
Hum Brain Mapp. 2018 May;39(5):2147-2155. doi: 10.1002/hbm.23994. Epub 2018 Feb 5.
Numerous behavioral observations and brain function studies have demonstrated that neurological differences exist between East Asians and Westerners. However, the extent to which these factors relate to differences in brain structure is still not clear. As the basis of brain functions, the anatomical differences in brain structure play a primary and critical role in the origination of functional and behavior differences. To investigate the underlying differences in brain structure between the two cultural/ethnic groups, we conducted a comparative study on education-matched right-handed young male adults (age = 22-29 years) from two cohorts, Han Chinese (n = 45) and Caucasians (n = 45), using high-dimensional structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. Using two well-validated imaging analysis techniques, surface-based morphometry (SBM) and voxel-based morphometry (VBM), we performed a comprehensive vertex-wise morphometric analysis of the brain structures between Chinese and Caucasian cohorts. We identified consistent significant between-group differences in cortical thickness, volume, and surface area in the frontal, temporal, parietal, occipital, and insular lobes as well as the cingulate cortices. The SBM analyses revealed that compared with Caucasians, the Chinese population showed larger cortical structures in the temporal and cingulate regions, and smaller structural measures in the frontal and parietal cortices. The VBM data of the same sample was well-aligned with the SBM findings. Our findings systematically revealed comprehensive brain structural differences between young male Chinese and Caucasians, and provided new neuroanatomical insights to the behavioral and functional distinctions in the two cultural/ethnic populations.
大量行为观察和脑功能研究表明，东亚人和西方人之间存在神经差异。然而，这些因素与大脑结构差异的关系程度尚不清楚。作为大脑功能的基础，大脑结构的解剖差异在功能和行为差异的起源中起着主要和关键的作用。为了研究这两个文化/种族群体之间大脑结构的潜在差异，我们对来自两个队列的受过教育的右利手年轻男性成年人（年龄= 22-29 岁）进行了一项比较研究，其中包括汉族（n=45）和高加索人（n=45），使用高维结构磁共振成像（MRI）数据。我们使用两种经过充分验证的成像分析技术，即基于表面的形态测量学（SBM）和基于体素的形态测量学（VBM），对中西方队列的大脑结构进行了全面的顶点形态测量分析。我们确定了皮质厚度、体积和表面积在额叶、颞叶、顶叶、枕叶和脑岛以及扣带回皮质之间存在一致的显著组间差异。SBM 分析显示，与高加索人相比，中国人的颞叶和扣带回区域的皮质结构较大，而额叶和顶叶皮质的结构测量值较小。同一样本的 VBM 数据与 SBM 结果非常吻合。我们的研究结果系统地揭示了年轻男性中国人和高加索人之间的全面大脑结构差异，并为这两个文化/种族群体的行为和功能差异提供了新的神经解剖学见解。
