Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
Developmental Neurogenomics Unit, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA.
Neuropsychopharmacology. 2019 Jan;44(1):71-85. doi: 10.1038/s41386-018-0111-z. Epub 2018 Jun 6.
Youth (including both childhood and adolescence) is a period when the brain undergoes dramatic remodeling and is also a time when neuropsychiatric conditions often emerge. Many of these illnesses have substantial sex differences in prevalence, suggesting that sex differences in brain development may underlie differential risk for psychiatric symptoms between males and females. Substantial evidence documents sex differences in brain structure and function in adults, and accumulating data suggests that these sex differences may be present or emerge during development. Here we review the evidence for sex differences in brain structure, white matter organization, and perfusion during development. We then use these normative differences as a framework to understand sex differences in brain development associated with psychopathology. In particular, we focus on sex differences in the brain as they relate to anxiety, depression, psychosis, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity symptoms. Finally, we highlight existing limitations, gaps in knowledge, and fertile avenues for future research.
青少年（包括儿童期和青春期）是大脑经历剧烈重塑的时期，也是神经精神疾病经常出现的时期。许多这些疾病在流行率上存在显著的性别差异，这表明大脑发育过程中的性别差异可能是男性和女性之间出现精神症状的不同风险的基础。大量证据证明了成年人的大脑结构和功能存在性别差异，并且越来越多的数据表明，这些性别差异可能在发育过程中存在或出现。在这里，我们回顾了在发育过程中大脑结构、白质组织和灌注方面存在性别差异的证据。然后，我们将这些正常差异作为一个框架，来理解与精神病理学相关的大脑发育中的性别差异。特别是，我们关注与焦虑、抑郁、精神病和注意缺陷/多动症状相关的大脑性别差异。最后，我们强调了现有局限性、知识差距以及未来研究的肥沃途径。
