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01-03-2016 | Original Article

Puberty and testosterone shape the corticospinal tract during male adolescence

Authors: Melissa M. Pangelinan, Gabriel Leonard, Michel Perron, G. Bruce Pike, Louis Richer, Suzanne Veillette, Zdenka Pausova, Tomáš Paus

Published in: Brain Structure and Function | Issue 2/2016

Abstract

Some of the known sex differences in white matter emerge during adolescence. Here, we replicate and extend our previous findings of sex differences in the structure of the corticospinal tract (Perrin et al. 2009; Hervé et al. 2009). In a large normative sample of adolescents, we observed age × sex interactions in the signal intensity of T1-weighted (T1W) images (n = 941) and in magnetization transfer ratio (MTR; n = 761); both features were inversely associated with age in males but not in females. Moreover, we hypothesized that the age-related differences in CST structure exhibited by males would be mediated by differences in puberty stage and levels of bioavailable testosterone. We confirmed this prediction using mediation analysis with bootstrapping. These findings suggest that sex differences in the CST structure observed during male adolescence may be due to multiple processes associated with puberty, including (but not limited to) the rising levels of testosterone.

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A discrepancy in the number of participants included in the creation of the GM probabilistic mask (for the creation of the CST mask) and the number of participants included in the T1W intensity analysis is due the following: registration failure for the CST mask and intensity scores or Z-scored bioavailable testosterone beyond three standard deviations from the mean.

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Title: Puberty and testosterone shape the corticospinal tract during male adolescence
Authors: Melissa M. Pangelinan
Gabriel Leonard
Michel Perron
G. Bruce Pike
Louis Richer
Suzanne Veillette
Zdenka Pausova
Tomáš Paus
Publication date: 01-03-2016
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in: Brain Structure and Function / Issue 2/2016
Print ISSN: 1863-2653
Electronic ISSN: 1863-2661
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-014-0956-9

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Puberty and testosterone shape the corticospinal tract during male adolescence

Abstract

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

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