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Sex differences in brain-behavior relationships in the first 2 years of life

Sonja J Fenske1,2,3, Janelle Liu1,2, Haitao Chen1,2,4

  • 1Biomedical Imaging Research Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 116 N. Robertson Blvd., PACT 800.7G, Los Angeles, CA 90048, United States.

Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)
|June 9, 2025
PubMed

Insights

Sex differences in brain connectivity emerge in infancy, linking specific neural pathways to later cognitive and behavioral outcomes. These brain-behavior relationships are distinct between sexes and crucial for understanding developmental differences.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Established sex differences in childhood cognition lack clear neural underpinnings.
  • Infant brain-behavior relationships show heterogeneity, but sex-based influences remain unclear during early development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate sex-specific neural mechanisms underlying cognitive and behavioral development in infants.
  • To identify how resting-state functional connectivity differences relate to sex and later behavioral outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans from 316 infants at multiple time points (neonate, 1 year, 2 years).
  • Employed multiple linear regression to analyze interactions between sex, functional connectivity, and behavioral scores (working memory, self-control, intelligence, anxiety) at 4 years of age.

Main Results:

  • Identified 6 age-specific, intra-hemispheric connections with significant sex differences in their relationship to behavior.
  • These connections involve the prefrontal cortex or regions anatomically linked to it.
  • Sex differences in functional connectivity were only apparent when related to behavior, not in isolation.

Conclusions:

  • Robust, sex-specific brain mechanisms related to behavior emerge during early development.
  • These findings highlight brain-behavior relationships as key to understanding developmental sex differences.
  • The prefrontal cortex plays a critical role in sex-specific cognitive and behavioral development.

Keywords:
developmentexecutive functioninfantintelligenceresting state functional connectivity

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