Sex Differences in Blood-Oxygenation-Level-Dependent Functional MRI With Primary Visual Stimulation

OBJECTIVE: The authors evaluated the effect of sex on data derived from activation studies using blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHOD: Gradient echo-echo planar imaging was used to measure BOLD signal response in the primary visual cortex in re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal of psychiatry 1998-03, Vol.155 (3), p.434-436
Main Authors: Levin, Jonathan M., Ross, Marjorie H., Mendelson, Jack H., Mello, Nancy K., Cohen, Bruce M., Renshaw, Perry F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Female
Humans
Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects)
Magnetic Resonance Imaging - statistics & numerical data
Male
Medical sciences
Nervous system
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Oxygen - blood
Photic Stimulation
Psychiatry
Radiodiagnosis. Nmr imagery. Nmr spectrometry
Sex Factors
Sexes
Visual Cortex - physiology
Visual Perception - physiology
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Summary:OBJECTIVE: The authors evaluated the effect of sex on data derived from activation studies using blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHOD: Gradient echo-echo planar imaging was used to measure BOLD signal response in the primary visual cortex in response to binocular photic stimulation in 16 healthy, young subjects (eight women and eight men). RESULTS: BOLD signal response was 38% lower in women than in men, and much of the difference was lateralized to the right hemisphere. CONCLUSIONS: Lower BOLD signal response in women may reflect a sex difference in the brain's response to a primary visual stimulation or in the physiology underlying BOLD functional MRI signal changes.
ISSN:0002-953X
1535-7228
DOI:10.1176/ajp.155.3.434