Functional brain networks are associated with both sex and gender in children

2024/07/12 by Elvisha Dhamala, Dani S. Bassett, B.T. Thomas Yeo +1 · 1 voice · 3 citations
Neuroscience · Psychology · #Functional Brain Connectivity Studies #Mental Health Research Topics #Neural dynamics and brain function

paper · pdf · doi:10.1126/sciadv.adn4202

openalex publication_date 2024/07/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23

Abstract

Sex and gender are associated with human behavior throughout the life span and across health and disease, but whether they are associated with similar or distinct neural phenotypes is unknown. Here, we demonstrate that, in children, sex and gender are uniquely reflected in the intrinsic functional connectivity of the brain. Somatomotor, visual, control, and limbic networks are preferentially associated with sex, while network correlates of gender are more distributed throughout the cortex. These results suggest that sex and gender are irreducible to one another not only in society but also in biology.

Citations

• An invariant dimensional liability model of gender differences in mental disorder prevalence: Evidence from a national sample.
• The misuses of “biological sex”
• The organization of the human cerebral cortex estimated by intrinsic functional connectivity
• Spatial Topography of Individual-Specific Cortical Networks Predicts Human Cognition, Personality, and Emotion
• Distinctions among real and apparent respiratory motions in human fMRI data
• Correction of respiratory artifacts in MRI head motion estimates

Cited by

• Brain functional connectivity, but not neuroanatomy, captures the interrelationship between sex and gender in preadolescents
• Reproducible sex differences in personalised functional network topography in youth
• “Precision Medicine” and the Failed Search for Binary Brain Sex Differences to Address Gender Behavioral Health Disparities

Discussions

• Here's our study where we found that sex and gender uniquely map onto brain networks. [bsky, 9 points, 0 comments]

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