Aberdeen Biomedical Imaging Centre, School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, University of Aberdeen, Lilian Sutton Building, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD, UK.
Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, NHS Grampian, Aberdeen, UK.
Sci Rep. 2022 Jun 30;12(1):11025. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-15208-4.
Changes in brain morphology have been reported during development, ageing and in relation to different pathologies. Brain morphology described by the shape complexity of gyri and sulci can be captured and quantified using fractal dimension (FD). This measure of brain structural complexity, as well as brain volume, are associated with intelligence, but less is known about the sexual dimorphism of these relationships. In this paper, sex differences in the relationship between brain structural complexity and general intelligence (g) in two diverse geographic and cultural populations (UK and Indian) are investigated. 3D T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data and a battery of cognitive tests were acquired from participants belonging to three different cohorts: Mysore Parthenon Cohort (MPC); Aberdeen Children of the 1950s (ACONF) and UK Biobank. We computed MRI derived structural brain complexity and g estimated from a battery of cognitive tests for each group. Brain complexity and volume were both positively corelated with intelligence, with the correlations being significant in women but not always in men. This relationship is seen across populations of differing ages and geographical locations and improves understanding of neurobiological sex-differences.
已有研究报道称，脑形态在发育、衰老以及与各种疾病相关的过程中会发生变化。脑形态可以通过脑回和脑沟的形状复杂度来描述和量化，这一复杂度可以使用分形维数（FD）来捕捉和量化。脑结构复杂性的这一衡量标准以及脑容量与智力有关，但对于这些关系的性别差异知之甚少。本文研究了在两个不同地理和文化群体（英国和印度）中，脑结构复杂性与一般智力（g）之间的关系是否存在性别差异。本研究从三个不同队列的参与者中采集了 3D T1 加权磁共振成像（MRI）数据和一系列认知测试：迈索尔帕特农队列（MPC）；阿伯丁 50 年代儿童队列（ACONF）和英国生物库。我们为每个群体计算了从 MRI 中得出的结构脑复杂性和从认知测试中得出的 g。脑复杂性和脑容量均与智力呈正相关，相关性在女性中显著，但在男性中并不总是显著。这种关系在不同年龄和地理位置的人群中都存在，有助于更好地理解神经生物学的性别差异。
