Sex-specific intra- and inter-hemispheric structural connectivity related to divergent thinking

Gender differences in creativity partly underscore the diversity between males and females in society. Divergent thinking forms the core of creativity and enables humans to innovate and solve problems. Sex differences in functional activation associated with divergent thinking may reflect the use of distinct strategies in males and females when faced with tasks involving creativity. Although female-specific white matter associated to creativity has been found, fractional anisotropy measuring structural connectivity which can better reflect the degree of brain regions interplay should be adapted to corroborate sex-specific WM connectivity related to divergent thinking. Using fractional anisotropy indexes derived from diffusion tensor imaging in 425 participants (118 males), we observed that divergent thinking was positively associated with fractional anisotropy in the corpus callosum and right superior longitudinal fasciculus in females and was positively associated with fractional anisotropy in the right tapetum in males. Our findings provide insight into sex-specific intra- and inter-hemispheric structural connectivity bases underlying divergent thinking.