To examine the effect of gender on regional brain activity, we utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a motor task and three cognitive tasks; a word generation task, a spatial attention task, and a working memory task in healthy male (n = 23) and female (n = 10) volunteers. Functional data were examined for group differences both in the number of pixels activated, and the blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) magnitude during each task. Males had a significantly greater mean activation than females in the working memory task with a greater number of pixels being activated in the right superior parietal gyrus and right inferior occipital gyrus, and a greater BOLD magnitude occurring in the left inferior parietal lobe. However, despite these fMRI changes, there were no significant differences between males and females on cognitive performance of the task. In contrast, in the spatial attention task, men performed better at this task than women, but there were no significant functional differences between the two groups. In the word generation task, there were no external measures of performance, but in the functional measurements, males had a significantly greater mean activation than females, where males had a significantly greater BOLD signal magnitude in the left and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the right inferior parietal lobe, and the cingulate. In neither of the motor tasks (right or left hand) did males and females perform differently. Our fMRI findings during the motor tasks were a greater mean BOLD signal magnitude in males in the right hand motor task, compared to females where males had an increased BOLD signal magnitude in the right inferior parietal gyrus and in the left inferior frontal gyrus. In conclusion, these results demonstrate differential patterns of activation in males and females during a variety of cognitive tasks, even though performance in these tasks may not vary, and also that variability in performance may not be reflected in differences in brain activation. These results suggest that in functional imaging studies in clinical populations it may be sensible to examine each sex independently until this effect is more fully understood.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.09.049 | DOI Listing |
JAMA Cardiol
January 2025
Cardiology Division, Department of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York.
Importance: Apolipoprotein B (apoB) distribution and its implications as an atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk-enhancing factor among individuals of diverse Hispanic or Latino backgrounds have not been described.
Objective: To describe the distribution of apoB in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) cohort and to characterize associations of baseline sociodemographic and clinical variables with apoB and self-identified Hispanic or Latino background.
Design, Setting, And Participants: The HCHS/SOL was a prospective, population-based cohort study of diverse Hispanic or Latino adults living in the US who were recruited and screened between March 2008 and June 2011.
JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg
January 2025
Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.
Importance: Investigating rural-urban and regional differences in the association between dual sensory loss (concurrent hearing and vision loss) and depression may highlight gaps in sensory loss research and health care services, and by socioeconomic status. Whether urbanicity and region may modify associations between sensory loss and depression is unknown.
Objective: To describe the rural-urban and regional differences in the association of dual sensory loss with depression among older adults.
JAMA Dermatol
January 2025
Department of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Importance: Cutaneous chronic graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) is independently associated with morbidity and mortality after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant. However, the health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) domains that are most important to patients are poorly understood.
Objective: To perform a concept elicitation study to define HRQOL in cutaneous chronic GVHD from the patient perspective and to compare experiences of patients with epidermal vs sclerotic disease.
JAMA Ophthalmol
January 2025
The Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
Importance: While urban counties maintain higher densities of ophthalmologists than rural counties, the geographic distribution of ophthalmic surgical subspecialists has not yet been elucidated. A potential workforce discrepancy may impact the burden of care faced by rural surgeons.
Objective: To assess the geographic distribution of the ophthalmic subspecialist surgeon workforce and evaluate factors associated with practicing in rural areas.
J Vis
January 2025
Department of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences, Graduate School of Informatics, Nagoya University, Aichi, Japan.
Humans can estimate the time and position of a moving object's arrival. However, numerous studies have demonstrated superior position estimation accuracy for descending objects compared with ascending objects. We tested whether the accuracy of position estimation for ascending and descending objects differs between the upper and lower visual fields.
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