Sex differences in the human brain: a roadmap for more careful analysis and interpretation of a biological reality.
Anti-sexism
Direct analysis
Meta-analysis
Neuroanatomy
Neurodevelopment
Review
Sex chromosomes
Sex differences
Sexual selection
sMRI
Journal
Biology of sex differences
ISSN: 2042-6410
Titre abrégé: Biol Sex Differ
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101548963
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
26 07 2022
26 07 2022
Historique:
received:
22
02
2022
accepted:
23
05
2022
entrez:
26
7
2022
pubmed:
27
7
2022
medline:
29
7
2022
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
The presence, magnitude, and significance of sex differences in the human brain are hotly debated topics in the scientific community and popular media. This debate is largely fueled by studies containing strong, opposing conclusions: either little to no evidence exists for sex differences in human neuroanatomy, or there are small-to-moderate differences in the size of certain brain regions that are highly reproducible across cohorts (even after controlling for sex differences in average brain size). Our Commentary uses the specific comparison between two recent large-scale studies that adopt these opposing views-namely the review by Eliot and colleagues (2021) and the direct analysis of ~ 40k brains by Williams and colleagues (2021)-in an effort to clarify this controversy and provide a framework for conducting this research. First, we review observations that motivate research on sex differences in human neuroanatomy, including potential causes (evolutionary, genetic, and environmental) and effects (epidemiological and clinical evidence for sex-biased brain disorders). We also summarize methodological and empirical support for using structural MRI to investigate such patterns. Next, we outline how researchers focused on sex differences can better specify their study design (e.g., how sex was defined, if and how brain size was adjusted for) and results (by e.g., distinguishing sexual dimorphisms from sex differences). We then compare the different approaches available for studying sex differences across a large number of individuals: direct analysis, meta-analysis, and review. We stress that reviews do not account for methodological differences across studies, and that this variation explains many of the apparent inconsistencies reported throughout recent reviews (including the work by Eliot and colleagues). For instance, we show that amygdala volume is consistently reported as male-biased in studies with sufficient sample sizes and appropriate methods for brain size correction. In fact, comparing the results from multiple large direct analyses highlights small, highly reproducible sex differences in the volume of many brain regions (controlling for brain size). Finally, we describe best practices for the presentation and interpretation of these findings. Care in interpretation is important for all domains of science, but especially so for research on sex differences in the human brain, given the existence of broad societal gender-biases and a history of biological data being used justify sexist ideas. As such, we urge researchers to discuss their results from simultaneously scientific and anti-sexist viewpoints.
Identifiants
pubmed: 35883159
doi: 10.1186/s13293-022-00448-w
pii: 10.1186/s13293-022-00448-w
pmc: PMC9327177
doi:
Types de publication
Letter
Meta-Analysis
Review
Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Comment
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
43Subventions
Organisme : NICHD NIH HHS
ID : R01 HD100298
Pays : United States
Organisme : NIMH NIH HHS
ID : 1ZIAMH002949
Pays : United States
Organisme : National Institute of Child Health and Disease
ID : R01HD100298
Commentaires et corrections
Type : CommentOn
Type : CommentOn
Informations de copyright
© 2022. The Author(s).
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