The neuroanatomy of general intelligence: sex matters.
We examined the relationship between structural brain variation and general intelligence using voxel-based morphometric analysis of MRI data in men and women with equivalent IQ scores. Compared to men, women show more white matter and fewer gray matter areas related to intelligence. In men IQ/gray matter correlations are strongest in frontal and parietal lobes (BA 8, 9, 39, 40), whereas the strongest correlations in women are in the frontal lobe (BA10) along with Broca's area. Men and women apparently achieve similar IQ results with different brain regions, suggesting that there is no singular underlying neuroanatomical structure to general intelligence and that different types of brain designs may manifest equivalent intellectual performance.
Haier
Richard J
RJ
Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Med. Sci. I, B140, Irvine, CA 92697-5000, USA. rjhaier@uci.edu
Jung
Rex E
RE
Yeo
Ronald A
RA
Head
Kevin
K
Alkire
Michael T
MT
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D007360:Intelligence / Q000502:physiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008432:Mathematical Computing; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013223:Statistics as Topic