Sex effects on structural maturation of the limbic system and outcomes on emotional regulation during adolescence

• Published in: NeuroImage (Orlando, Fla.) Vol. 210; p. 116441
• Main Authors: Frere, Pauline Bezivin, Vetter, Nora C., Artiges, Eric, Filippi, Irina, Miranda, Rubén, Vulser, Hélène, Paillère-Martinot, Marie-Laure, Ziesch, Veronika, Conrod, Patricia, Cattrell, Anna, Walter, Henrik, Gallinat, Jurgen, Bromberg, Uli, Jurk, Sarah, Menningen, Eva, Frouin, Vincent, Papadopoulos Orfanos, Dimitri, Stringaris, Argyris, Penttilä, Jani, van Noort, Betteke, Grimmer, Yvonne, Schumann, Gunter, Smolka, Michael N., Martinot, Jean-Luc, Lemaître, Hervé
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 15.04.2020; Elsevier Limited; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adolescence; Adolescent; Adolescent Development - physiology; Adolescents; Age; Amygdala; Bipolar disorder; Child development; Children & youth; Cognitive science; Diffusion Tensor Imaging; Emotional regulation; Emotional Regulation - physiology; Emotions; Female; Gender differences; Girls; Hippocampus; Humans; Hyperactivity; Life Sciences; Limbic system; Limbic System - anatomy & histology; Limbic System - diagnostic imaging; Limbic System - growth & development; Longitudinal; Longitudinal Studies; Magnetic resonance imaging; Male; Males; Maturation; Neurons and Cognition; Neuroscience; Prefrontal cortex; Prefrontal Cortex - anatomy & histology; Prefrontal Cortex - diagnostic imaging; Prefrontal Cortex - growth & development; Psychopathology; Puberty; Puberty - physiology; Questionnaires; Sex; Sex Characteristics; Sex difference; Sex differentiation; T1-weigthed imaging; Teenagers; T1-weigthed imaging; Adolescence; Puberty; Longitudinal; Sex difference; Diffusion tensor imaging
• ISSN: 1053-8119; 1095-9572; 1095-9572
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116441

Though adolescence is a time of emerging sex differences in emotions, sex-related differences in the anatomy of the maturing brain has been under-explored over this period. The aim of this study was to investigate whether puberty and sexual differentiation in brain maturation could explain emotional differences between girls and boys during adolescence. We adapted a dedicated longitudinal pipeline to process structural and diffusion images from 335 typically developing adolescents between 14 and 16 years. We used voxel-based and Regions of Interest approaches to explore sex and puberty effects on brain and behavioral changes during adolescence. Sexual differences in brain maturation were characterized by amygdala and hippocampal volume increase in boys and decrease in girls. These changes were mediating the sexual differences in positive emotional regulation as illustrated by positive attributes increase in boys and decrease in girls. Moreover, the differential maturation rates between the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex highlighted the delayed maturation in boys compared to girls. This is the first study to show the sex effects on the differential cortico/subcortical maturation rates and the interaction between sex and puberty in the limbic system maturation related to positive attributes, reported as being protective from emotional disorders.