Sex differences in the human brain related to visual motion perception
Abstract Background Previous studies have found that the temporal duration required for males to perceive visual motion direction is significantly shorter than that for females. However, the neural correlates of such shortened duration perception remain yet unclear. Given that motion perception is p...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Biology of Sex Differences |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13293-024-00668-2 |
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| author | Dong-Yu Liu Ming Li Juan Yu Yuan Gao Xiaotong Zhang Dewen Hu Georg Northoff Xue Mei Song Junming Zhu |
| author_facet | Dong-Yu Liu Ming Li Juan Yu Yuan Gao Xiaotong Zhang Dewen Hu Georg Northoff Xue Mei Song Junming Zhu |
| author_sort | Dong-Yu Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Previous studies have found that the temporal duration required for males to perceive visual motion direction is significantly shorter than that for females. However, the neural correlates of such shortened duration perception remain yet unclear. Given that motion perception is primarily associated with the neural activity of the middle temporal visual complex (MT+), we here test the novel hypothesis that the neural mechanism of these behavioral sex differences is mainly related to the MT+ region. Methods We utilized ultra-high field (UHF) MRI to investigate sex differences in the MT+ brain region. A total of 95 subjects (48 females) participated in two separate studies. Cohort 1, consisting of 33 subjects (16 females), completed task-fMRI (drafting grating stimuli) experiment. Cohort 2, comprising 62 subjects (32 females), engaged in a psychophysical experiment measuring motion perception along different temporal thresholds as well as conducting structural and functional MRI scanning of MT+. Results Our findings show pronounced sex differences in major brain parameters within the left MT+ (but not the right MT+, i.e., laterality). In particular, males demonstrate (i) larger gray matter volume (GMV) and higher brain’s spontaneous activity at the fastest infra-slow frequency band in the left MT+; and (ii) stronger functional connectivity between the left MT+ and the left centromedial amygdala (CM). Meanwhile, both female and male participants exhibited comparable correlations between motion perception ability and the multimodal imaging indexes of the MT+ region, i.e., larger GMV, higher brain’s spontaneous activity, and faster motion discrimination. Conclusions Our findings reveal sex differences of imaging indicators of structure and function in the MT+ region, which also relate to the temporal threshold of motion discrimination. Overall, these results show how behavioral sex differences in visual motion perception are generated, and advocate considering sex as a crucial biological variable in both human brain and behavioral research. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b0b1971831034b09a5ecb925eee3e8e2 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2042-6410 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biology of Sex Differences |
| spelling | doaj-art-b0b1971831034b09a5ecb925eee3e8e22024-11-17T12:06:44ZengBMCBiology of Sex Differences2042-64102024-11-0115111210.1186/s13293-024-00668-2Sex differences in the human brain related to visual motion perceptionDong-Yu Liu0Ming Li1Juan Yu2Yuan Gao3Xiaotong Zhang4Dewen Hu5Georg Northoff6Xue Mei Song7Junming Zhu8Department of Neurosurgery of the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of MedicineCollege of Intelligence Science and Technology, National University of Defense TechnologyKey Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Science, Zhejiang UniversityDepartment of Neurosurgery of the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of MedicineMOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Science & Brain-Machine Integration, Zhejiang UniversityCollege of Intelligence Science and Technology, National University of Defense TechnologyUniversity of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research, University of OttawaDepartment of Neurosurgery of the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of MedicineDepartment of Neurosurgery of the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of MedicineAbstract Background Previous studies have found that the temporal duration required for males to perceive visual motion direction is significantly shorter than that for females. However, the neural correlates of such shortened duration perception remain yet unclear. Given that motion perception is primarily associated with the neural activity of the middle temporal visual complex (MT+), we here test the novel hypothesis that the neural mechanism of these behavioral sex differences is mainly related to the MT+ region. Methods We utilized ultra-high field (UHF) MRI to investigate sex differences in the MT+ brain region. A total of 95 subjects (48 females) participated in two separate studies. Cohort 1, consisting of 33 subjects (16 females), completed task-fMRI (drafting grating stimuli) experiment. Cohort 2, comprising 62 subjects (32 females), engaged in a psychophysical experiment measuring motion perception along different temporal thresholds as well as conducting structural and functional MRI scanning of MT+. Results Our findings show pronounced sex differences in major brain parameters within the left MT+ (but not the right MT+, i.e., laterality). In particular, males demonstrate (i) larger gray matter volume (GMV) and higher brain’s spontaneous activity at the fastest infra-slow frequency band in the left MT+; and (ii) stronger functional connectivity between the left MT+ and the left centromedial amygdala (CM). Meanwhile, both female and male participants exhibited comparable correlations between motion perception ability and the multimodal imaging indexes of the MT+ region, i.e., larger GMV, higher brain’s spontaneous activity, and faster motion discrimination. Conclusions Our findings reveal sex differences of imaging indicators of structure and function in the MT+ region, which also relate to the temporal threshold of motion discrimination. Overall, these results show how behavioral sex differences in visual motion perception are generated, and advocate considering sex as a crucial biological variable in both human brain and behavioral research.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13293-024-00668-2Motion perceptionHuman MT complexGray matter volumeAmplitude of low-frequency fluctuationsSex differences |
| spellingShingle | Dong-Yu Liu Ming Li Juan Yu Yuan Gao Xiaotong Zhang Dewen Hu Georg Northoff Xue Mei Song Junming Zhu Sex differences in the human brain related to visual motion perception Biology of Sex Differences Motion perception Human MT complex Gray matter volume Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations Sex differences |
| title | Sex differences in the human brain related to visual motion perception |
| title_full | Sex differences in the human brain related to visual motion perception |
| title_fullStr | Sex differences in the human brain related to visual motion perception |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sex differences in the human brain related to visual motion perception |
| title_short | Sex differences in the human brain related to visual motion perception |
| title_sort | sex differences in the human brain related to visual motion perception |
| topic | Motion perception Human MT complex Gray matter volume Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations Sex differences |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13293-024-00668-2 |
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