title: Sexual dimorphism of Broca's region: More gray matter in female brains in Brodmann areas 44 and 45.
abstract: Although a sexual dimorphism in brain structure is generally well established, evidence for sex differences in Brodmann areas (BA) 44 and 45 is inconclusive. This may be due to the difficulty of accurately defining BA 44 and BA 45 in magnetic resonance images, given that these regions are variable in their location and extent and that they do not match well with macroanatomic landmarks. Here we set out to test for possible sex differences in the local gray matter of BA 44/45 by integrating imaging-based signal intensities with cytoarchitectonically defined tissue probabilities in a sample of 50 male and 50 female subjects. In addition to testing for sex differences with respect to left- and right-hemispheric measures of BA 44/45, we also assessed possible sex differences in BA 44/45 asymmetry. Our analyses revealed significantly larger gray matter volumes in females compared with males for BA 44 and BA 45 bilaterally. However, there was a lack of significant sex differences in BA 44/45 asymmetry. These results corroborate reports of a language-related female superiority, particularly with respect to verbal fluency and verbal memory tasks. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California.|Department of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kurth
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropsychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.|University Research Priority Program (URPP) "Dynamic of Healthy Aging," University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lutz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jancke
authors.affiliation: Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California.|Department of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Eileen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Luders
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D065711:Broca Area / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D066128:Gray Matter; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012727:Sex Characteristics
keywords: Broca; MRI; brain; gender; gray matter; sex