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Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Advance Access originally published online on March 20, 2008
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 2008 3(2):168-176; doi:10.1093/scan/nsn010
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© The Author (2008). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Ventral frontal cortex in children: morphology, social cognition and femininity/masculinity

Jessica L. Wood1,2, Vesna Murko3 and Peg Nopoulos1,2

1Mental Health Clinical Research Center, 2Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, and 3University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

The ventral frontal cortex (VFC) has been shown to differ morphologically between sexes. Social cognition, which many studies demonstrate involves the VFC, also differs between sexes, with females being more adept than males. In a previous study of subregions of the VFC in our lab, in an adult population, size of the straight gyrus (SG) but not the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), differed between sexes and correlated with better performance on a test of social cognition and with greater identification with feminine characteristics. To investigate the relationship between VFC structure and social cognition in children, VFC gray matter volumes were measured on MRIs from 37 boys and 37 girls aged 7 to 17. The VFC was subdivided into the OFC and SG. Subjects were also administered a test of social perceptiveness and a rating scale of femininity/masculinity. In contrast to our findings in adults, the SG was slightly smaller in girls than boys. In girls, but not boys, smaller SG volumes significantly correlated with better social perception and higher identification with feminine traits. No volume differences by sex or significant correlations were found with the OFC. These data suggest a complex relationship between femininity, social cognition and SG morphology.

Keywords: brain morphology; femininity; gender differences; social perception; straight gyrus

Correspondence should be addressed to Jessica L. Wood, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Mental Health Clinical Research Center, W278 GH, 200 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA. E-mail: jessica-wood{at}uiowa.edu.

Received October 11, 2007. Accepted February 28, 2008.


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