A new study published in the biology of sex differences has shown that structural differences between male and female brains are present from birth and remain relatively unchanged during the first month of life, which emphasizes the important role of prenatal biological factors in shaping early brain development.
The research, conducted by scientists from the University of Cambridge as part of the developing Human Connectome project, analyzed brain scans of 514 full, healthy newborn-278 boys and 236 girls all of them within the first 28 days of life.
With the help of magnetic resonance formation (MRI), researchers discovered that male infants had larger general brain volumes, a pattern that matches findings in older children and adults.
After adjusting the total brain size, however, female babies appeared to have more gray matter, the part of the brain responsible for information processing, while male babies had more white matter, which facilitates communication between brain areas.
Main author Yumnah Khan, a PhD student at the University of Cambridge, said that the findings challenge long-term assumptions that such sex-based differences in the brain are largely the result of social or environmental influences.
“Different on-average sex differences in the brain have been present since birth, indicating that prenatal factors play an important role in initiating sex differences in the brain,” Khan told PSYPOST.
Research into structural brain differences
The MRI scans revealed specific brain areas where the sexes differed. Female babies had relatively larger volumes in the corpus callosum, the bridge between the hemispheres of the brain and the parahippocampal Gyrus, coupled with memory.
In the meantime, male infants showed larger volumes in the medial and inferior temporal gyri, areas associated with visual and auditory processing.
In particular, these differences remained stable during the first month of life, which suggests that they were based before birth instead of formed by early postnatal experiences.
“We found it very interesting that various sex differences that were previously observed were already present in older children and adults at birth,” said Khan. “This emphasizes that these differences are present from the very beginning of life and probably arise prenatally.”
Implications for neurological research research
The findings have important implications to understand why certain neurological and psychiatric disorders – such as autism, ADHD and depression – occur more often or are otherwise present in men and women. Researchers say that these conditions can be linked to early structural differences in the brain and offer a potential route for earlier identification and targeted interventions.
Khan emphasized that the interest in sex differences is not only academic, but is also practically important.
“A better understanding of sex differences, their underlying causes and the timeline of their rise can explain why certain disorders influence men and women differently. This can also help to fit diagnostic and supporting strategies to improve health results,” she said.
Caution against Overgeneralization
Despite the findings, the researchers were careful to warn against the interpretation of the results. The observed differences are average differences between large groups and do not suggest that male and female brain is fundamentally or universally different in function.
“It is important not to exaggerate or exaggerate the differences,” Khan explained. “The brain is not ‘sexual dimorphous’ such as reproductive organs. The brains of men and women are more comparable than they differ.”
The study did not investigate whether the observed structural differences translate into behavioral or cognitive differences, nor investigated the precise causes – genetic, hormonal or environments – of these early brain differences.
“There is much more to discover,” said Khan. “We must now determine whether these structural differences are linked to behavior, cognition or future development results. Insight into the origin and implications of these differences is the following critical step.”
This research marks one of the most detailed studies into sex differences in the neonatal brain and offers a fundamental understanding of how male and female brains begin to diverge – just somewhat – of the very first days of life. It also contributes to the growing amount of evidence that biological sex plays a role in the development of the brain from the earliest stages, long before social and cultural influences come.
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