Gender effects on the controllability of hemispheric white matter networks

Male and female adults exhibited significant group differences in brain white matter (WM) asymmetry and WM network controllability. However, gender differences in controllability of hemispheric WM networks between males and females remain to be determined. Based on 1 principal atlas and 1 replication atlas, this work characterized the average controllability (AC) and modal controllability (MC) of hemispheric WM network based on 1 principal dataset and 2 replication datasets. All results showed that males had higher AC of left hemispheric networks than females. And significant hemispheric asymmetry was revealed in regional AC and MC. Furthermore, significant gender differences in the AC asymmetry were mainly found in regions lie in the frontoparietal network, and the MC asymmetry was found in regions involving auditory and emotion process. Finally, we found significant associations between regional controllability and cognitive features. Taken together, this work could provide a novel perspective for understanding gender differences in hemispheric WM asymmetry and cognitive function between males and females.