Brain functional connectivity, but not neuroanatomy, captures the interrelationship between sex and gender in preadolescents.

ABSTRACT: Understanding sex differences in the adolescent brain is crucial, as they relate to sex-specific neurological and psychiatric conditions. Predicting sex from adolescent brain data may reveal how these differences influence neurodevelopment. Recently, attention has shifted toward socially-identified gender (distinct from sex assigned at birth) recognizing its explanatory power. This study evaluates whether resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC), cortical thickness, or cortical volume better predicts sex and sex/gender alignment (congruence between sex and gender) in preadolescents. Using Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study data and machine learning, rsFC predicted sex more accurately (85 %) than cortical thickness (76 %) and cortical volume (70 %). Brain regions most p

SUBMITTER: Metoki A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12539272 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature