Generalizable sex differences in functional brain organization follow the cortical hierarchy in youth
It remains unknown if sex differences in human functional connectivity follow a generalizable overarching principle. Here, we tested whether sex differences in functional connectivity during childhood and adolescence are organized along the sensorimotor-association (S-A) axis, a cortical hierarchy spanning unimodal sensorimotor to transmodal association cortex. We analyzed four large-scale,…
A recent study investigated whether sex differences in human functional connectivity exhibit a universal pattern. Researchers analyzed data from four large-scale datasets, encompassing 3,355 youth aged 5 to 23 years. The findings revealed that males displayed greater connectivity between functional networks, while females exhibited greater connectivity within networks, with a notable emphasis on the default mode network.
The study further revealed that the sensorimotor and association ends of the cortical hierarchy were more segregated in females and more integrated in males. This pattern extended to the overall organization of the brain, with the cortical hierarchy being expanded in females relative to males along the principal gradient of functional connectivity.
The results suggest that the sensorimotor-association (S-A) axis serves as a generalizable organizing principle for sex differences in functional brain organization during youth.
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