Interactive effects of gender and sexual orientation on cortical thickness, surface area and gray matter volume: a structural brain MRI study

Dandan Wang; Lu Han; Caixi Xi; Yi Xu; Jianbo Lai; Shaojia Lu; Manli Huang; Jianbo Hu; Ning Wei; Weijuan Xu; Weihua Zhou; Qiaoqiao Lu; Hongjian He; Shaohua Hu

doi:10.21037/qims.2020.03.07

Interactive effects of gender and sexual orientation on cortical thickness, surface area and gray matter volume: a structural brain MRI study

Quant Imaging Med Surg. 2020 Apr;10(4):835-846. doi: 10.21037/qims.2020.03.07.

Authors

Dandan Wang^{1

2}, Lu Han³, Caixi Xi^{1

2}, Yi Xu^{1

2}, Jianbo Lai^{1

2}, Shaojia Lu^{1

2}, Manli Huang^{1

2}, Jianbo Hu^{1

2}, Ning Wei^{1

2}, Weijuan Xu^{1

2}, Weihua Zhou^{1

2}, Qiaoqiao Lu^{1

2}, Hongjian He³, Shaohua Hu^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310003, China.
² The Key Laboratory of Mental Disorder Management in Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310003, China.
³ Center for Brain Imaging Science and Technology, Key Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrumental Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.

Abstract

Background: Testosterone is thought to play a crucial role in sexual differentiation of the brain, and sexual orientation is programmed into our brain structures even when we are still fetuses. Although gender and sexual orientation differences have been shown respectively in many brain structures, the mechanism underlying the sexual differentiation of the brain is still unknown. The study is to investigate the interactive effects of gender and sexual orientation on cerebral structures in homosexual and heterosexual people.

Methods: Sexual orientation was evaluated by the Kinsey scale. We collected structural magnetic resonance image (MRI) data of local cortical thickness, surface area, and gray matter volume in all the subjects (29 homosexual and 29 heterosexual men, 17 homosexual and 17 heterosexual women). Statistical maps were generated using a general linear model (GLM) using FreeSurfer's Query, Design, Estimate, Contrast (QDEC) interface. We had sexual orientation and gender as 2 discrete factors with 2 levels, allowing for the generation of the interaction between sexual orientation and gender: homosexual women and heterosexual men versus heterosexual women and homosexual men. Coordinates were in Talairach space. All the cluster sizes were calculated with a P value of 0.01.

Results: Results revealed interactions concerning the area and gray matter volume between the factors of sexual orientation and gender. Regarding the thickness, an interaction was not found in any regions of the clusters. Regarding the area, an interaction was found in region of left middle temporal lobe, inferior temporal lobe, lateral occipital lobe, fusiform [(-58.1, -38.6, -14.7), maximum vertex-wise (MV) log₁₀(P) =3.30, cluster size (CS) =1,286.90 mm²], and left rostral middle frontal lobe, pars opercularis, caudal middle frontal lobe [(-37.3, 23.6, 24.8), MV log₁₀(P) =2.92, CS =1,194.40 mm²]. Regarding the gray matter volume, an interaction was found in the region of the left pars opercularis (inferior frontal gyrus) [(-42.9, 6.3, 18.5), MV log₁₀(P) =1.31, CS =526.79 mm²].

Conclusions: The present study extends our understandings of how structural features differ in homosexual men, heterosexual men, homosexual women, and heterosexual women. Furthermore, it highlights the interactions between sexual orientation and gender in the left inferior frontal gyrus, bilateral temporal lobe, and the right rostral anterior cingulate cortex, which are suggested to play a critical role in the sexual differentiation of the human brain.

Keywords: Interactive effects; gender; sexual orientation; structural magnetic resonance image (structural MRI).