Gender Differences in Neural Networks in Patients with Vascular Encephalopathy

• Published in: Human physiology Vol. 46; no. 8; pp. 833 - 839
• Main Authors: Fokin, V. F., Ponomareva, N. V., Krotenkova, M. V., Konovalov, R. N., Medvedev, R. B., Lagoda, O. V., Tanashyan, M. M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01-12-2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cerebral hemispheres; Connectivity; Encephalopathy; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Gender; Gender differences; Hemispheric laterality; Human Physiology; Life Sciences; Neural networks; Occipital lobe; Precision medicine; Sex differences; Vascular diseases; gender differences in neural networks; connectivity; resting state fMRI; chronic brain ischaemia; neuroimaging
• ISSN: 0362-1197; 1608-3164
• DOI: 10.1134/S0362119720080058

Gender differences in cerebral connectivity in subjects with chronic vascular disease are pertinent due to the need for personalized medicine and the theoretical lack of development of the problem. Objective: to analyse the gender differences in neural networks in patients with vascular encephalopathy. The study involved 48 patients (30 women and 18 men) who underwent resting state functional MRI. The neural network graph of gender differences consisted of a small number of source nodes in the occipital fusiform cortex, and a large number of connections linking these nodes with other cerebral regions, located mainly in the left hemisphere. Connectivity measures showed that women have predominantly left hemisphere connections, while men have higher connectivity in the occipital regions of both cerebral hemispheres.