Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38590252›Full record

ArticleHuman brain mapping2024

Sex, gender diversity, and brain structure in early adolescence.

Carinna Torgerson, Hedyeh Ahmadi, Jeiran Choupan, Chun Chieh Fan, John R Blosnich, Megan M Herting

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Human brain mapping, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

12 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Sexually Dimorphic Developmental Trajectories of Cortical and Subcortical Subfields in Early Childhood.International journal of developmental neuroscience : the official journal of the International Society for Developmental Neuroscience · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. "Precision Medicine" and the Failed Search for Binary Brain Sex Differences to Address Gender Behavioral Health Disparities.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2025
    Review
  7. Longitudinal Sex-at-Birth and Age Analyses of Cortical Structure in the ABCD Study.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Not so binary or generalizable: Brain sex differences with artificial neural networks.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Carinna TorgersonDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Hedyeh AhmadiDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Jeiran ChoupanMark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-4760-7796
Chun Chieh FanCenter for Population Neuroscience and Genetics, Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9437-2128
John R BlosnichSuzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Megan M HertingDepartment of Population and Public Health Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-0840-4582

Funding

ABCD-USA Consortium: Coordinating CenterU24DA041147 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI SANDRA A BROWN, TERRY L. JERNIGAN · 2015 to 2026
$54.7M
ABCD-USA Consortium: Data Analysis, Informatics and Resource CenterU24DA041123 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI ANDERS M DALE · 2015 to 2026
$51.5M
Adolescent Substance Use Initiation: Disentangling neurocognitive risks from consequences using longitudinal and genetically-informed methodsU01DA041120 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · PI Monica Luciana, Sylia Wilson · 2015 to 2026
$34.5M
ABCD-USA Consortium: Research ProjectU01DA041089 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI Joanna Jacobus, Susan F. Tapert · 2015 to 2026
$31.7M
Prospective Research Studies of Maturation (PRISM)- Research ProjectU01DA041134 · NIDA · UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH · PI ERIN MCGLADE, PERRY FRANKLIN RENSHAW · 2015 to 2026
$29.2M
ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECTU01DA041048 · NIDA · CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF LOS ANGELES · PI Megan Marie Herting, ELIZABETH R SOWELL · 2015 to 2026
$28.7M
ABCD-USA Consortium: Research ProjectU01DA041106 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI Mary M Heitzeg, Chandra Sekhar Sripada · 2015 to 2026
$24.9M
FIU-ABCD: Pathways and Mechanisms to Addiction in the Latino Youth of South FloridaU01DA041156 · NIDA · FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY · PI Raul Gonzalez, Angela R Laird · 2015 to 2026
$22.8M
ABCD-USA Consortium: Research ProjectU01DA041148 · NIDA · OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY · PI Damien A Fair, Rebekah S Huber · 2015 to 2026
$22.3M
ABCD-USA: NYC Research ProjectU01DA041174 · NIDA · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI Arielle Ryan Baskin-Sommers, Betty J Casey · 2015 to 2026
$19.7M
Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Prospective Research in Studies of Maturation (PRISM) ConsortiumU01DA041117 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · PI LINDA CHANG, THOMAS M ERNST · 2015 to 2026
$19.5M
15/21 ABCD-USA Consortium: Research Project Site at LIBRU01DA050989 · NIDA · LAUREATE INSTITUTE FOR BRAIN RESEARCH · PI ROBIN L AUPPERLE, MARTIN P. PAULUS · 2020 to 2026
$14.7M
NIDA NIH HHS U01 DA041022NIDA NIH HHS U01 DA041025NIDA NIH HHS U01 DA041028NIDA NIH HHS U01 DA041048NIDA NIH HHS U01 DA041089NIDA NIH HHS U01 DA041093NIDA NIH HHS U01 DA041106NIDA NIH HHS U01 DA041117NIDA NIH HHS U01 DA041120NIDA NIH HHS U01 DA041134NIDA NIH HHS U01 DA041148NIDA NIH HHS U01 DA041156NIDA NIH HHS U01 DA041174NIDA NIH HHS U01 DA050987NIDA NIH HHS U01 DA050988NIDA NIH HHS U01 DA050989NIDA NIH HHS U01 DA051016NIDA NIH HHS U01 DA051018NIDA NIH HHS U01 DA051037NIDA NIH HHS U01 DA051038NIDA NIH HHS U01 DA051039NIDA NIH HHS U24 DA041123NIDA NIH HHS U24 DA041147NIH HHS RF1MH123223NIH HHS U01DA041022NIH HHS U01DA041025NIH HHS U01DA041028NIH HHS U01DA041048NIH HHS U01DA041089NIH HHS U01DA041093NIH HHS U01DA041106NIH HHS U01DA041117NIH HHS U01DA041120NIH HHS U01DA041134NIH HHS U01DA041148NIH HHS U01DA041156NIH HHS U01DA041174NIH HHS U01DA050987NIH HHS U01DA050988NIH HHS U01DA050989NIH HHS U01DA051016NIH HHS U01DA051018NIH HHS U01DA051037NIH HHS U01DA051038NIH HHS U01DA051039NIH HHS U24DA041123NIH HHS U24DA041147NIMH NIH HHS RF1 MH123223
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

There remains little consensus about the relationship between sex and brain structure, particularly in early adolescence. Moreover, few pediatric neuroimaging studies have analyzed both sex and gender as variables of interest-many of which included small sample sizes and relied on binary definitions of gender. The current study examined gender diversity with a continuous felt-gender score and categorized sex based on X and Y allele frequency in a large sample of children ages 9-11 years old (N = 7195). Then, a statistical model-building approach was employed to determine whether gender diversity and sex independently or jointly relate to brain morphology, including subcortical volume, cortical thickness, gyrification, and white matter microstructure. Additional sensitivity analyses found that male versus female differences in gyrification and white matter were largely accounted for by total brain volume, rather than sex per se. The model with sex, but not gender diversity, was the best-fitting model in 60.1% of gray matter regions and 61.9% of white matter regions after adjusting for brain volume. The proportion of variance accounted for by sex was negligible to small in all cases. While models including felt-gender explained a greater amount of variance in a few regions, the felt-gender score alone was not a significant predictor on its own for any white or gray matter regions examined. Overall, these findings demonstrate that at ages 9-11 years old, sex accounts for a small proportion of variance in brain structure, while gender diversity is not directly associated with neurostructural diversity.

Indexed as

Magnetic Resonance ImagingWhite MatterAdolescentBrainChildFemaleGray MatterHumansMaleNeuroimagingbrain structuregenderneurodevelopmentneuroimagingsex

Identifiers

PMID38590252
PMCPMC11002534

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.