Sex Differences in the Inferior Parietal Lobule
Open Access
- 1 December 1999
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Cerebral Cortex
- Vol. 9 (8) , 896-901
- https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/9.8.896
Abstract
The inferior parietal lobule (IPL) – a neocortical region and part of the heteromodal association cortex (HASC) – has been hypothesized to exhibit sexual dimorphism, as do other HASC regions, particularly with regard to asymmetry. Using a reliable method for measuring IPL gray matter volume based upon individual sulcal–gyral landmarks, we measured this region on magnetic resonance imaging scans from a sample of 15 individually matched pairs of normal male and female subjects. Male subjects showed significantly larger left, but not right, IPL volumes when compared to females. Males also showed a leftward (left > right) asymmetry for the IPL, with a less marked opposite asymmetry in females. Such sexual dimorphisms may possibly underlie the subtle cognitive differences observed between the sexes.Keywords
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