A developmental study of sex and age interactions in the human corpus callosum

Regional analysis of the corpus callosum (CC) has demonstrated that the development of this fiber tract is sexually dimorphic. Midsagittal CC tracings from magnetic resonance images (MRIs) of 73 pairs of age-matched (age 2-79 years) males and females were digitized using computer assisted software. Area, axis length, perimeter, and 99 widths were obtained. Widths were grouped into the following regions based upon prior factor analysis: widths 3-18 (W3-18), W22-39, W49-62, W65-74, W77-85, W89-94, and W95-99. Trend analyses were performed with Sex and Age (blocked into 10-year bins) as independent variables. Higher order Sex by Age interactions were significant in regions W3-18 and W22-39 and were marginal in W95-99. In all 3 regions, females did not attain maximum width until Age 41-50 whereas males had peaked at 20 years and declined thereafter. There were no significant interactions between Sex and Age in the remaining CC regions, nor were there any dramatic decreases once maximum width was reached in adulthood. These results suggest that sex differences may also exist in CC ultrastructure over the human lifespan.