A voxel-by-voxel parametric fMRI study of motor mental rotation: Hemispheric specialization and gender differences in neural processing efficiency

Peka S. Christova; Scott M. Lewis; Georgios A. Tagaris; Kamil Ugurbil; Apostolos P Georgopoulos

doi:10.1007/s00221-008-1405-x

A voxel-by-voxel parametric fMRI study of motor mental rotation: Hemispheric specialization and gender differences in neural processing efficiency

Peka S. Christova, Scott M. Lewis, Georgios A. Tagaris, Kamil Ugurbil, Apostolos P Georgopoulos

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Abstract

Differences between men and women in brain size, cognitive performance and lateralization of brain activation have been perennial and controversial issues. Here we show that in a motor mental rotation task where women and men performed equally well, the slope of the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal per degree of mental rotation was overall 2.4× higher in men than in women. This was attributed to the much more inefficient engagement (i.e. higher slopes) of the right hemisphere by men (mainly the frontal lobe). These findings indicate that women process information much more efficiently than men, which could offset smaller brain size.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	79-90
Number of pages	12
Journal	Experimental Brain Research
Volume	189
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-008-1405-x
State	Published - Jul 2008

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgments This work was supported by USPHS grant NS32919, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, and the American Legion Brain Sciences Chair.

Keywords

Cerebral cortex
Gender
Mental rotation
fMRI

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10.1007/s00221-008-1405-x

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AU - Ugurbil, Kamil

AU - Georgopoulos, Apostolos P

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A voxel-by-voxel parametric fMRI study of motor mental rotation: Hemispheric specialization and gender differences in neural processing efficiency

Abstract

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