Sex, Age, and Cognitive Correlates of Asymmetries in Thickness of the Cortical Mantle Across the Life Span

Abstract

We assessed the correlations of age, sex, and cognitive performance with measures of asymmetry in cortical thickness on high-resolution MRIs in 215 healthy human children and adults, 7-59 years of age. A left Ͼ right asymmetry in thickness of the cortical mantle was present throughout the entire lateral, dorsal, and mesial surfaces of the frontal lobe, extending into primary sensory, superior parietal, and anterior superior temporal cortices. A right Ͼ left asymmetry was present in the lateral, mesial, and dorsal surfaces of the posterior temporal, parietal, and occipital cortices, as well as in the entire inferior surface of the brain. An exaggerated left Ͼ right asymmetry was detected in females in anterior brain regions, and an exaggerated right Ͼ left asymmetry was detected in males in the orbitofrontal, inferior parietal, and inferior occipital cortices. Weaker moderating effects of sex were scattered along the mesial surface of the brain. Age significantly moderated asymmetry measures in the inferior sensorimotor, inferior parietal, posterior temporal, and inferior occipital cortices. The age ϫ asymmetry interaction derived from a steeper decline in cortical thickness with age in the right hemisphere than in the left on the lateral surface, whereas it derived from a steeper decline with age in the left hemisphere than in the right on the mesial surface. Finally, measures of performance on working memory and vocabulary tasks improved with increasing magnitudes of normal asymmetries in regions thought to support these cognitive capacities.

Relationships in Ongoing Structural Maintenances of the Two Cerebral Cortices of an Individual Brain

“…49–53 Although findings vary regarding extents and lateralities of side-side symmetry or asymmetry, this work clearly indicates that concepts of symmetry and asymmetry apply to group average thickness magnitudes.…”

Cortical thickness, surface area and folding in patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures

“…Only right medial orbitofrontal thickness correlated with neuropsychological variables mainly demonstrating executive dysfunction. Although recent study provide compelling evidence for the correlation between structural asymmetry and cognitive function (Plessen et al, 2014), the absence of more abundant correlations most likely reflect small sample size. Additionally, many models of gyrification posit that thinner cortex should be associated with increased cortical folding which is consistent with polymicrogyria--a condition associated with thinning of cortex (Fornito et al, 2008).…”

Maturation of language networks in children: A systematic review of 22years of functional MRI

“…However, the asymmetry of cortical thickness does show prolonged maturation in sensory and motor regions (Plessen, Hugdahl, Bansal, Hao, & Peterson, 2014).…”