Emer Judith Hughes1, David J. Sharp2, Derek L.G Hill3, Alle Meije Wink4, Joseph V. Hajnal4, Serena J. Counsell5
1Robert Steiner MRI Unit, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College, London, England, UK; 2Cognitive Neuroimaging Group, MRC Clinical sciences Centre, Imperial college, London, England, UK; 3The London Bioscience Innovation Centre, IXICO ltd, London, England; 4Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College, Robert Steiner MRI Unit, London, England, UK; 5Robert Steiner MRI Unit, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial college, London, England, UK
Diffusion tensor imaging studies (DTI) have found evidence for sexual dimorphism in a number of white matter tracts, with males having higher fractional anisotropy (FA) than females. The aim of this study was to assess whole brain white matter, in a large study group, in order to assess the extent of these microstructural differences using Tract Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS). Our results demonstrated extensive regions in the brain where the white matter microstructure differs between males and females, including a number of regions that have not been previously reported.