Insight into brain sex differences of typically developed infants and brain pathologies: A systematic review

Zahraa Saker; Mahdi Rizk; Diana Merie; Rami H Nabha; Nicole J Pariseau; Sanaa M Nabha; Malek I Makki

doi:10.1111/ejn.16364

Insight into brain sex differences of typically developed infants and brain pathologies: A systematic review

Eur J Neurosci. 2024 May 1. doi: 10.1111/ejn.16364. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Zahraa Saker¹, Mahdi Rizk², Diana Merie³, Rami H Nabha⁴, Nicole J Pariseau⁵, Sanaa M Nabha^{3

6}, Malek I Makki⁷

Affiliations

¹ Research Department, Al-Rassoul Al-Aazam Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon.
² School of Health Sciences, Modern University for Business and Science, Beirut, Lebanon.
³ Neuroscience Research Center, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.
⁴ Oradea Medical University, Oradea, Romania.
⁵ Department of Pediatrics-Neurology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
⁶ Department of Neurology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
⁷ Laboratory of Functional Neurosciences and Pathologies, University of Picardy Jules Verne, Amiens, France.

PMID: 38693604
DOI: 10.1111/ejn.16364

Abstract

The continually advancing landscape of neuroscientific and imaging research has broadened our comprehension of sex differences encoded in the human brain, expanding from the hypothalamus and sexual behaviour to encompass the entire brain, including its diverse lobes, structures, and functions. However, less is known about sex differences in the brains of neonates and infants, despite their relevance to various sex-linked diseases that develop early in life. In this review, we provide a synopsis of the literature evidence on sex differences in the brains of neonates and infants at the morphological, structural and network levels. We also briefly overview the present evidence on the sex bias in some brain disorders affecting infants and neonates.

Keywords: brain; infants; neonates; sex differences; systematic review.

Publication types

Review