Sex Disparities in Psychiatric and Neurodegenerative Disorders: Insights from Large-scale Neuroimaging

Salminen, Lauren, Meral Tubi, Joanna Bright, and Paul Thompson. 2020. “Sex Disparities in Psychiatric and Neurodegenerative Disorders: Insights from Large-scale Neuroimaging.” PsyArXiv. August 17. doi:10.31234/osf.io/m59dg

Abstract: Sex differences are found in the incidence and expression of psychiatric and neurodegenerative conditions, and many studies suggest these differences are influenced by innate biological differences between males and females and risk factors that interact with these differences. However, few studies have used neuroimaging to examine brain signatures of disease separately by sex, and many studies of sex differences have been based on small samples and their findings have not been replicated in larger cohorts. Large-scale neuroimaging initiatives such as the Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analyses (ENIGMA) consortium, the UK Biobank, Human Connectome Project, and others offer an unprecedented source of power to address important questions about the role of sex as a risk or protective factor for suboptimal brain health, as well as sex-specific neuroimaging phenotypes in brain-related illnesses. Here we review the existing neuroimaging literature on sex differences in the human brain in healthy adults and those with the most common and debilitating psychiatric and age-related neurodegenerative conditions. Finally, we discuss key gaps in this literature and opportunities of large-scale collaborative efforts to identify, characterize, and explain how biological sex influences the human brain in health and disease.