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Article
Masculinity/Femininity Predicts Brain Volumes in Normal Healthy Children
Developmental Neuropsychology
  • Amy M. Belfi, Missouri University of Science and Technology
  • Amy L. Conrad
  • Jeffrey Dawson
  • Peg Nopoulos
Abstract

Previous research has shown sex differences in brain morphology (De Bellis et al., 2001). However, these studies have not taken gender into account. Gender is a phenotype that describes behavior. In this study, we examined the relationship between gender, sex, and brain volumes in children. One hundred and eight children ages 7 to 17 were administered the Children's Sex Role Inventory (Boldizar, 1991) and obtained volumetric brain data via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We found that, in the frontal lobe, higher masculinity predicted greater volumes of white matter. Also, in the temporal lobe, higher femininity predicted greater volumes of gray matter.

Department(s)
Psychological Science
Comments
This work was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), DE014399.
Keywords and Phrases
  • Adolescent,
  • Article,
  • Brain,
  • Child,
  • Female,
  • Femininity,
  • Frontal Lobe,
  • Growth, Development And Aging,
  • Histology,
  • Human,
  • Male,
  • Masculinity,
  • Methodology,
  • Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging,
  • Organ Size,
  • Pathology,
  • Physiology,
  • Predictive Value,
  • Regression Analysis,
  • Sexual Development,
  • Temporal Lobe, Adolescent,
  • Brain,
  • Child,
  • Female,
  • Femininity,
  • Frontal Lobe,
  • Humans,
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging,
  • Male,
  • Masculinity,
  • Organ Size,
  • Predictive Value Of Tests,
  • Regression Analysis,
  • Sex Characteristics,
  • Temporal Lobe
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2014 Taylor & Francis, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
1-1-2014
Publication Date
01 Jan 2014
PubMed ID
24405182
Disciplines
Citation Information
Amy M. Belfi, Amy L. Conrad, Jeffrey Dawson and Peg Nopoulos. "Masculinity/Femininity Predicts Brain Volumes in Normal Healthy Children" Developmental Neuropsychology Vol. 39 Iss. 1 (2014) p. 25 - 36 ISSN: 8756-5641
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/amy-belfi/4/