Scientists have explained the differences in the brain connections of men and women

Scientists analyzed MRI data from people aged eight to 100 years and found that in early childhood, differences in brain connectivity patterns between men and women are minimal, but they increase dramatically with the onset of puberty. At the same time, some of the differences continue to increase in adulthood. This was reported by the journal Nature.

The authors claim that the results may help to understand why men and women are differently susceptible to certain mental disorders. For example, women are about twice as likely to suffer from anxiety disorders and depression, and men are four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders.

However, some neuroscientists doubt that the differences found are due to biological sex. In their opinion, the work does not take into account the influence of gender roles and social factors, which can also significantly affect the brain.

Amy Kuchieski, a computational neuroimaging specialist at Weill Cornell Medical Center in Ithaca, and her colleagues analyzed functional MRI data from 1,286 people, equally men and women. The scan recorded a time slice of the age of each person's brain, but did not track the same people throughout their lives. Using an artificial intelligence algorithm, the researchers evaluated both structural and functional connections.

It turned out that differences are present in both structural and functional networks. Functional differences mainly affected the so-called higher-order networks responsible for attention, decision-making, and consciousness. Structural differences peaked in middle age and continued to increase with age, especially in lower-order networks associated with sensory information processing.

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Throughout their lives, women had stronger functional connectivity in the so-called passive mode network of the brain, associated with higher cognitive processes. In men, the functional connections between the hemispheres of the cerebellum responsible for motor coordination increased with age. Structural connections in the cerebellum also became more pronounced in men as they aged.

"One of the most interesting discoveries is that the timeline of sex differences in brain connectivity coincides with the timeline of sex hormone levels throughout life," said Yumna Khan, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Cambridge.

She noted that differences in the passive mode network may be related to mental health. According to the expert, women generally have higher functional connectivity. In particular, she clarified that the hyperconnectedness of this network had previously been associated with depression.

In the future, the team plans to conduct longitudinal studies, tracking brain changes in the same people, taking into account their life history. In this way, scientists want to better understand the nature of the differences and, possibly, move closer to more personalized treatment of mental disorders.

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