title: Sex differences in associations of arginine vasopressin and oxytocin with resting-state functional brain connectivity.
abstract: Oxytocin (OT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) exert robust and sexually dimorphic influences on cognition and emotion. How these hormones regulate relevant functional brain systems is not well understood. OT and AVP serum concentrations were assayed in 60 healthy individuals (36 women). Brain functional networks assessed with resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) were constructed with graph theory-based approaches that characterize brain networks as connected nodes. Sex differences were demonstrated in rs-fMRI. Men showed higher nodal degree (connectedness) and efficiency (information propagation capacity) in left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and bilateral superior temporal gyrus (STG) and higher nodal degree in left rolandic operculum. Women showed higher nodal betweenness (being part of paths between nodes) in right putamen and left inferior parietal gyrus (IPG). Higher hormone levels were associated with less intrinsic connectivity. In men, higher AVP was associated with lower nodal degree and efficiency in left IFG (pars orbitalis) and left STG and less efficiency in left IFG (pars triangularis). In women, higher AVP was associated with lower betweenness in left IPG, and higher OT was associated with lower nodal degree in left IFG (pars orbitalis). Hormones differentially correlate with brain networks that are important for emotion processing and cognition in men and women. AVP in men and OT in women may regulate orbital frontal cortex connectivity, which is important in emotion processing. Hormone associations with STG and pars triangularis in men and parietal cortex in women may account for well-established sex differences in verbal and visuospatial abilities, respectively. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Leah H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Rubin
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Sarah K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Keedy
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: James L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Reilly
authors.affiliation: Pharmacy and Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
authors.forename: Jeffrey R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Bishop
authors.affiliation: Kinsey Institute, Bloomington, Indiana.
authors.forename: C Sue
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.affiliation: Kinsey Institute, Bloomington, Indiana.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pournajafi-Nazarloo
authors.affiliation: Departments of Physiology and Pharmacology, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Lauren L
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1160-9391
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Drogos
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas.
authors.forename: Carol A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Tamminga
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and Neurobiology, Yale University and Olin Neuropsychiatric Research Center, Hartford, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Godfrey D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Pearlson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Matcheri S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Keshavan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.
authors.forename: Brett A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Clementz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Scot K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: Center for Information in Biomedicine, Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Department of Medical Psychology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Gong-Jun
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Su
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lui
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, People's Republic of China.|Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas.
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Sweeney
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001127:Arginine Vasopressin / Q000097:blood*; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000097:blood*; D012146:Rest; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001127:Arginine Vasopressin; D010121:Oxytocin
keywords: brain function; oxytocin; resting state; sex differences; vasopressin