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Sex differences in cortical thickness in middle aged and early old-aged adults: Personality and Total Health Through Life study

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Abstract

Introduction

The study investigated sex differences in cortical thickness in middle-aged (MA, 44–48 years old, n = 397) and early old-aged (OA, 64–68 years old, n = 398) adults in a community-based sample.

Methods

T1-weighted three-dimensional structural magnetic resonance imaging scans were acquired in a Fast Field Echo sequence, and cortical thickness was measured with a surface-based segmentation procedure (http://surfer.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu).

Results

Results showed that after correcting for age, MA males had predominantly thicker superior temporal cortices, while MA females had thicker occipital, posterior cingulate, precentral, and postcentral cortices. Sex differences in OA adults were less prominent than those in MA adults with females showing thicker temporal and posterior cingulate cortices and males showing thicker rostral middle frontal regions. Between-cohort comparisons revealed that when compared with MA males, OA males showed many regions with significantly thinner cortices, but this pattern was less pronounced for OA females. Our results suggest that sex differences in cortical thickness are age specific, as larger differences in cortical thickness were found in MA compared to OA adults.

Conclusion

The results of the present study indicate that the inconsistencies in sexual dimorphism that have been reported in the literature are partly due to the variable and transitory nature of cortical thickness differences with age.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Anthony Jorm, Bryan Rodgers, Helen Christensen, Patricia Jacomb, Karen Maxwell, and the PATH interviewers. This research was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia Unit grant no. 973302, program grant no. 179805, project grant no. 157125, grants from the Australian Rotary Health Research Fund and the Australian Brewers Foundation, and a processing grant from the National Computational Infrastructure. NC is funded by NHMRC Research Fellowship no. 471501. KA is funded by NHMRC Research Fellowship no. 1002560.

Conflict of interest

We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Research on Ageing Health and Wellbeing, Australian National University, Building 62a, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia

    Prapti Gautam, Nicolas Cherbuin & Kaarin J. Anstey

  2. School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

    Perminder S. Sachdev & Wei Wen

  3. Neuropsychiatric Institute, Sydney, Australia

    Perminder S. Sachdev & Wei Wen

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  1. Prapti Gautam
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  2. Nicolas Cherbuin
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  5. Kaarin J. Anstey
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Correspondence to Prapti Gautam.

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Gautam, P., Cherbuin, N., Sachdev, P.S. et al. Sex differences in cortical thickness in middle aged and early old-aged adults: Personality and Total Health Through Life study. Neuroradiology 55, 697–707 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-013-1144-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-013-1144-y

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