title: Linked Sex Differences in Cognition and Functional Connectivity in Youth.
abstract: Sex differences in human cognition are marked, but little is known regarding their neural origins. Here, in a sample of 674 human participants ages 9-22, we demonstrate that sex differences in cognitive profiles are related to multivariate patterns of resting-state functional connectivity MRI (rsfc-MRI). Males outperformed females on motor and spatial cognitive tasks; females were faster in tasks of emotion identification and nonverbal reasoning. Sex differences were also prominent in the rsfc-MRI data at multiple scales of analysis, with males displaying more between-module connectivity, while females demonstrated more within-module connectivity. Multivariate pattern analysis using support vector machines classified subject sex on the basis of their cognitive profile with 63% accuracy (P < 0.001), but was more accurate using functional connectivity data (71% accuracy; P < 0.001). Moreover, the degree to which a given participant's cognitive profile was "male" or "female" was significantly related to the masculinity or femininity of their pattern of brain connectivity (P = 2.3 × 10(-7)). This relationship was present even when considering males and female separately. Taken together, these results demonstrate for the first time that sex differences in patterns of cognition are in part represented on a neural level through divergent patterns of brain connectivity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Theodore D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Satterthwaite
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Roalf
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Kosha
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ruparel
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Perelman Scholl of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Guray
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Erus
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vandekar
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Efstathios D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Gennatas
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Perelman Scholl of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Perelman Scholl of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Center for Applied Genomics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Hakon
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hakonarson
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Perelman Scholl of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Ragini
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Verma
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Perelman Scholl of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Davatzikos
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA Department of Radiology, Perelman Scholl of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Raquel E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Gur
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA Department of Radiology, Perelman Scholl of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA Philadelphia Veterans Administration Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Ruben C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Gur
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009038:Motion; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
keywords: adolescence; cognition; connectivity; connectome; development; fMRI; network; resting-state; sex differences