Abstract #0073
Sex Differences in Structural and Functional Network Topology are Present at Birth: A Multi-modal Graph Theory Study
Vincent Jerome Schmithorst 1 , Jessica Wisnowski 1 , and Ashok Panigrahy 1
1
Radiology, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
of UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
We investigated possible sex differences in structural
and functional network topology in healthy neonates
using DTI and intrinsic-connectivity fMRI, respectively.
While structural network topology is similar, females
show greater modularity due to a more developed frontal
interhemispheric subnetwork. Functionally, females show
more developed frontal and fronto-temporo-parietal
interhemispheric subnetworks, resulting in greater
modularity, efficiency, and small-worldness. Results
show that at least some brain sex differences arise
during prenatal development. Moreover, these differences
may account for the greater risk of white matter injury
and poorer neurocognitive outcomes in males following
perinatal stressors such as preterm birth or congenital
heart disease.
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