Country-level gender inequality is associated with structural differences in the brains of women and men

Autores: Zugman, André; Alliende, Luz María; Medel, Vicente; Bethlehem, Richard A.I.; Seidlitz, Jakob; Ringlein, Grace; Arango, Celso; Arnatkevičiūtė, Aurina; Asmal, Laila; Bellgrove, Mark; Benegal, Vivek; Bernardo, Miquel; Billeke, Pablo; Bosch Bayard, Jorge; Bressan, Rodrigo; Busatto, Geraldo F.; Castro, Mariana Nair; Chaim Avancini, Tiffany; Compte, Albert; Costanzi, Monise; Czepielewski, Leticia; Dazzan, Paola; de la Fuente-Sandoval, Camilo; Gonzalez Campo, Cecilia; Zamorano, Francisco; Zanetti, Marcus V.; Winkler, Anderson M.; Pine, Daniel S.; Evans Lacko, Sara; Crossley, Nicolas A.
Año de publicación: 2023
Idioma: inglés
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado: versión publicada
Descripción: Gender inequality across the world has been associated with a higher risk to mental health problems and lower academic achievement in women compared to men. We also know that the brain is shaped by nurturing and adverse socio-environmental experiences. Therefore, unequal exposure to harsher conditions for women compared to men in gender-unequal countries might be reflected in differences in their brain structure, and this could be the neural mechanism partly explaining women´s worse outcomes in gender-unequal countries. We examined this through a random-effects meta-analysis on cortical thickness and surface area differences between adult healthy men and women, including a meta-regression in which country-level gender inequality acted as an explanatory variable for the observed differences. A total of 139 samples from 29 different countries, totaling 7,876 MRI scans, were included. Thickness of the right hemisphere, and particularly the right caudal anterior cingulate, right medial orbitofrontal, and left lateral occipital cortex, presented no differences or even thicker regional cortices in women compared to men in gender-equal countries, reversing to thinner cortices in countries with greater gender inequality. These results point to the potentially hazardous effect of gender inequality on women´s brains and provide initial evidence for neuroscience-informed policies for gender equality.
Fil: Zugman, André. National Institutes of Health; Estados Unidos
Fil: Alliende, Luz María. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; Chile. Universidad Católica de Chile; Chile. Northwestern University; Estados Unidos
Fil: Medel, Vicente. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; Chile
Fil: Bethlehem, Richard A.I.. University of Cambridge; Estados Unidos
Fil: Seidlitz, Jakob. University of Pennsylvania; Estados Unidos
Fil: Ringlein, Grace. National Institutes of Health; Estados Unidos
Fil: Arango, Celso. Universidad Complutense de Madrid; España
Fil: Arnatkevičiūtė, Aurina. Monash University; Australia
Fil: Asmal, Laila. Stellenbosch University; Sudáfrica
Fil: Bellgrove, Mark. Monash University; Australia
Fil: Benegal, Vivek. National Institute Of Mental Health And Neuro Sciences; India
Fil: Bernardo, Miquel. Universidad de Barcelona; España
Fil: Billeke, Pablo. Universidad del Desarrollo; Chile
Fil: Bosch Bayard, Jorge. McGill University. Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital; Canadá. Université Mcgill; Canadá
Fil: Bressan, Rodrigo. Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo; Brasil
Fil: Busatto, Geraldo F.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil
Fil: Castro, Mariana Nair. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; Argentina
Fil: Chaim Avancini, Tiffany. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil
Fil: Compte, Albert. Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer; España
Fil: Costanzi, Monise. Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre; Brasil
Fil: Czepielewski, Leticia. Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre; Brasil. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil
Fil: Dazzan, Paola. Kings College London (kcl);
Fil: de la Fuente-Sandoval, Camilo. Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía; México
Fil: Gonzalez Campo, Cecilia. Universidad de San Andrés; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Zamorano, Francisco. Universidad del Desarrollo; Chile. Universidad San Sebastián; Chile
Fil: Zanetti, Marcus V.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil
Fil: Winkler, Anderson M.. University of Texas; Estados Unidos
Fil: Pine, Daniel S.. National Institutes of Health; Estados Unidos
Fil: Evans Lacko, Sara. School of Economics and Political Science; Reino Unido
Fil: Crossley, Nicolas A.. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; Chile. Universidad Católica de Chile; Chile. University of Oxford; Reino Unido
Materia: GENDER INEQUALITY
SEX DIFFERENCES
STRUCTURAL BRAIN MRI
Nivel de accesibilidad: acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
Repositorio
Institución: Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
OAI Identificador: oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/240058

Acceder

id	CONICETDig_def770dfb60c10cd1714a37c1d0f3290
oai_identifier_str	oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/240058
network_acronym_str	CONICETDig
repository_id_str	3498
network_name_str	CONICET Digital (CONICET)
spelling	Country-level gender inequality is associated with structural differences in the brains of women and menZugman, AndréAlliende, Luz MaríaMedel, VicenteBethlehem, Richard A.I.Seidlitz, JakobRinglein, GraceArango, CelsoArnatkevičiūtė, AurinaAsmal, LailaBellgrove, MarkBenegal, VivekBernardo, MiquelBilleke, PabloBosch Bayard, JorgeBressan, RodrigoBusatto, Geraldo F.Castro, Mariana NairChaim Avancini, TiffanyCompte, AlbertCostanzi, MoniseCzepielewski, LeticiaDazzan, Paolade la Fuente-Sandoval, CamiloGonzalez Campo, CeciliaZamorano, FranciscoZanetti, Marcus V.Winkler, Anderson M.Pine, Daniel S.Evans Lacko, SaraCrossley, Nicolas A.GENDER INEQUALITYSEX DIFFERENCESSTRUCTURAL BRAIN MRIhttps://purl.org/becyt/ford/3.3https://purl.org/becyt/ford/3Gender inequality across the world has been associated with a higher risk to mental health problems and lower academic achievement in women compared to men. We also know that the brain is shaped by nurturing and adverse socio-environmental experiences. Therefore, unequal exposure to harsher conditions for women compared to men in gender-unequal countries might be reflected in differences in their brain structure, and this could be the neural mechanism partly explaining women´s worse outcomes in gender-unequal countries. We examined this through a random-effects meta-analysis on cortical thickness and surface area differences between adult healthy men and women, including a meta-regression in which country-level gender inequality acted as an explanatory variable for the observed differences. A total of 139 samples from 29 different countries, totaling 7,876 MRI scans, were included. Thickness of the right hemisphere, and particularly the right caudal anterior cingulate, right medial orbitofrontal, and left lateral occipital cortex, presented no differences or even thicker regional cortices in women compared to men in gender-equal countries, reversing to thinner cortices in countries with greater gender inequality. These results point to the potentially hazardous effect of gender inequality on women´s brains and provide initial evidence for neuroscience-informed policies for gender equality.Fil: Zugman, André. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Alliende, Luz María. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; Chile. Universidad Católica de Chile; Chile. Northwestern University; Estados UnidosFil: Medel, Vicente. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; ChileFil: Bethlehem, Richard A.I.. University of Cambridge; Estados UnidosFil: Seidlitz, Jakob. University of Pennsylvania; Estados UnidosFil: Ringlein, Grace. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Arango, Celso. Universidad Complutense de Madrid; EspañaFil: Arnatkevičiūtė, Aurina. Monash University; AustraliaFil: Asmal, Laila. Stellenbosch University; SudáfricaFil: Bellgrove, Mark. Monash University; AustraliaFil: Benegal, Vivek. National Institute Of Mental Health And Neuro Sciences; IndiaFil: Bernardo, Miquel. Universidad de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Billeke, Pablo. Universidad del Desarrollo; ChileFil: Bosch Bayard, Jorge. McGill University. Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital; Canadá. Université Mcgill; CanadáFil: Bressan, Rodrigo. Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Busatto, Geraldo F.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Castro, Mariana Nair. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Chaim Avancini, Tiffany. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Compte, Albert. Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer; EspañaFil: Costanzi, Monise. Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre; BrasilFil: Czepielewski, Leticia. Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre; Brasil. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Dazzan, Paola. Kings College London (kcl);Fil: de la Fuente-Sandoval, Camilo. Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía; MéxicoFil: Gonzalez Campo, Cecilia. Universidad de San Andrés; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Zamorano, Francisco. Universidad del Desarrollo; Chile. Universidad San Sebastián; ChileFil: Zanetti, Marcus V.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Winkler, Anderson M.. University of Texas; Estados UnidosFil: Pine, Daniel S.. National Institutes of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Evans Lacko, Sara. School of Economics and Political Science; Reino UnidoFil: Crossley, Nicolas A.. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; Chile. Universidad Católica de Chile; Chile. University of Oxford; Reino UnidoNational Academy of Sciences2023-05info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11336/240058Zugman, André; Alliende, Luz María; Medel, Vicente; Bethlehem, Richard A.I.; Seidlitz, Jakob; et al.; Country-level gender inequality is associated with structural differences in the brains of women and men; National Academy of Sciences; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America; 120; 20; 5-2023; 1-61091-6490CONICET DigitalCONICETenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1073/pnas.2218782120info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2218782120info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas2025-09-03T10:10:24Zoai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/240058instacron:CONICETInstitucionalhttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/oai/requestdasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:34982025-09-03 10:10:24.315CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicasfalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv	Country-level gender inequality is associated with structural differences in the brains of women and men
title	Country-level gender inequality is associated with structural differences in the brains of women and men
spellingShingle	Country-level gender inequality is associated with structural differences in the brains of women and men Zugman, André GENDER INEQUALITY SEX DIFFERENCES STRUCTURAL BRAIN MRI
title_short	Country-level gender inequality is associated with structural differences in the brains of women and men
title_full	Country-level gender inequality is associated with structural differences in the brains of women and men
title_fullStr	Country-level gender inequality is associated with structural differences in the brains of women and men
title_full_unstemmed	Country-level gender inequality is associated with structural differences in the brains of women and men
title_sort	Country-level gender inequality is associated with structural differences in the brains of women and men
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv	Zugman, André Alliende, Luz María Medel, Vicente Bethlehem, Richard A.I. Seidlitz, Jakob Ringlein, Grace Arango, Celso Arnatkevičiūtė, Aurina Asmal, Laila Bellgrove, Mark Benegal, Vivek Bernardo, Miquel Billeke, Pablo Bosch Bayard, Jorge Bressan, Rodrigo Busatto, Geraldo F. Castro, Mariana Nair Chaim Avancini, Tiffany Compte, Albert Costanzi, Monise Czepielewski, Leticia Dazzan, Paola de la Fuente-Sandoval, Camilo Gonzalez Campo, Cecilia Zamorano, Francisco Zanetti, Marcus V. Winkler, Anderson M. Pine, Daniel S. Evans Lacko, Sara Crossley, Nicolas A.
author	Zugman, André
author_facet	Zugman, André Alliende, Luz María Medel, Vicente Bethlehem, Richard A.I. Seidlitz, Jakob Ringlein, Grace Arango, Celso Arnatkevičiūtė, Aurina Asmal, Laila Bellgrove, Mark Benegal, Vivek Bernardo, Miquel Billeke, Pablo Bosch Bayard, Jorge Bressan, Rodrigo Busatto, Geraldo F. Castro, Mariana Nair Chaim Avancini, Tiffany Compte, Albert Costanzi, Monise Czepielewski, Leticia Dazzan, Paola de la Fuente-Sandoval, Camilo Gonzalez Campo, Cecilia Zamorano, Francisco Zanetti, Marcus V. Winkler, Anderson M. Pine, Daniel S. Evans Lacko, Sara Crossley, Nicolas A.
author_role	author
author2	Alliende, Luz María Medel, Vicente Bethlehem, Richard A.I. Seidlitz, Jakob Ringlein, Grace Arango, Celso Arnatkevičiūtė, Aurina Asmal, Laila Bellgrove, Mark Benegal, Vivek Bernardo, Miquel Billeke, Pablo Bosch Bayard, Jorge Bressan, Rodrigo Busatto, Geraldo F. Castro, Mariana Nair Chaim Avancini, Tiffany Compte, Albert Costanzi, Monise Czepielewski, Leticia Dazzan, Paola de la Fuente-Sandoval, Camilo Gonzalez Campo, Cecilia Zamorano, Francisco Zanetti, Marcus V. Winkler, Anderson M. Pine, Daniel S. Evans Lacko, Sara Crossley, Nicolas A.
author2_role	author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv	GENDER INEQUALITY SEX DIFFERENCES STRUCTURAL BRAIN MRI
topic	GENDER INEQUALITY SEX DIFFERENCES STRUCTURAL BRAIN MRI
purl_subject.fl_str_mv	https://purl.org/becyt/ford/3.3 https://purl.org/becyt/ford/3
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv	Gender inequality across the world has been associated with a higher risk to mental health problems and lower academic achievement in women compared to men. We also know that the brain is shaped by nurturing and adverse socio-environmental experiences. Therefore, unequal exposure to harsher conditions for women compared to men in gender-unequal countries might be reflected in differences in their brain structure, and this could be the neural mechanism partly explaining women´s worse outcomes in gender-unequal countries. We examined this through a random-effects meta-analysis on cortical thickness and surface area differences between adult healthy men and women, including a meta-regression in which country-level gender inequality acted as an explanatory variable for the observed differences. A total of 139 samples from 29 different countries, totaling 7,876 MRI scans, were included. Thickness of the right hemisphere, and particularly the right caudal anterior cingulate, right medial orbitofrontal, and left lateral occipital cortex, presented no differences or even thicker regional cortices in women compared to men in gender-equal countries, reversing to thinner cortices in countries with greater gender inequality. These results point to the potentially hazardous effect of gender inequality on women´s brains and provide initial evidence for neuroscience-informed policies for gender equality. Fil: Zugman, André. National Institutes of Health; Estados Unidos Fil: Alliende, Luz María. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; Chile. Universidad Católica de Chile; Chile. Northwestern University; Estados Unidos Fil: Medel, Vicente. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; Chile Fil: Bethlehem, Richard A.I.. University of Cambridge; Estados Unidos Fil: Seidlitz, Jakob. University of Pennsylvania; Estados Unidos Fil: Ringlein, Grace. National Institutes of Health; Estados Unidos Fil: Arango, Celso. Universidad Complutense de Madrid; España Fil: Arnatkevičiūtė, Aurina. Monash University; Australia Fil: Asmal, Laila. Stellenbosch University; Sudáfrica Fil: Bellgrove, Mark. Monash University; Australia Fil: Benegal, Vivek. National Institute Of Mental Health And Neuro Sciences; India Fil: Bernardo, Miquel. Universidad de Barcelona; España Fil: Billeke, Pablo. Universidad del Desarrollo; Chile Fil: Bosch Bayard, Jorge. McGill University. Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital; Canadá. Université Mcgill; Canadá Fil: Bressan, Rodrigo. Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo; Brasil Fil: Busatto, Geraldo F.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil Fil: Castro, Mariana Nair. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; Argentina Fil: Chaim Avancini, Tiffany. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil Fil: Compte, Albert. Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer; España Fil: Costanzi, Monise. Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre; Brasil Fil: Czepielewski, Leticia. Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre; Brasil. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil Fil: Dazzan, Paola. Kings College London (kcl); Fil: de la Fuente-Sandoval, Camilo. Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía; México Fil: Gonzalez Campo, Cecilia. Universidad de San Andrés; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Zamorano, Francisco. Universidad del Desarrollo; Chile. Universidad San Sebastián; Chile Fil: Zanetti, Marcus V.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil Fil: Winkler, Anderson M.. University of Texas; Estados Unidos Fil: Pine, Daniel S.. National Institutes of Health; Estados Unidos Fil: Evans Lacko, Sara. School of Economics and Political Science; Reino Unido Fil: Crossley, Nicolas A.. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; Chile. Universidad Católica de Chile; Chile. University of Oxford; Reino Unido
description	Gender inequality across the world has been associated with a higher risk to mental health problems and lower academic achievement in women compared to men. We also know that the brain is shaped by nurturing and adverse socio-environmental experiences. Therefore, unequal exposure to harsher conditions for women compared to men in gender-unequal countries might be reflected in differences in their brain structure, and this could be the neural mechanism partly explaining women´s worse outcomes in gender-unequal countries. We examined this through a random-effects meta-analysis on cortical thickness and surface area differences between adult healthy men and women, including a meta-regression in which country-level gender inequality acted as an explanatory variable for the observed differences. A total of 139 samples from 29 different countries, totaling 7,876 MRI scans, were included. Thickness of the right hemisphere, and particularly the right caudal anterior cingulate, right medial orbitofrontal, and left lateral occipital cortex, presented no differences or even thicker regional cortices in women compared to men in gender-equal countries, reversing to thinner cortices in countries with greater gender inequality. These results point to the potentially hazardous effect of gender inequality on women´s brains and provide initial evidence for neuroscience-informed policies for gender equality.
publishDate	2023
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv	2023-05
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv	info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format	article
status_str	publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv	http://hdl.handle.net/11336/240058 Zugman, André; Alliende, Luz María; Medel, Vicente; Bethlehem, Richard A.I.; Seidlitz, Jakob; et al.; Country-level gender inequality is associated with structural differences in the brains of women and men; National Academy of Sciences; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America; 120; 20; 5-2023; 1-6 1091-6490 CONICET Digital CONICET
url	http://hdl.handle.net/11336/240058
identifier_str_mv	Zugman, André; Alliende, Luz María; Medel, Vicente; Bethlehem, Richard A.I.; Seidlitz, Jakob; et al.; Country-level gender inequality is associated with structural differences in the brains of women and men; National Academy of Sciences; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America; 120; 20; 5-2023; 1-6 1091-6490 CONICET Digital CONICET
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv	eng
language	eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv	info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1073/pnas.2218782120 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2218782120
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
eu_rights_str_mv	openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv	application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv	National Academy of Sciences
publisher.none.fl_str_mv	National Academy of Sciences
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv	reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET) instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
reponame_str	CONICET Digital (CONICET)
collection	CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname_str	Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.name.fl_str_mv	CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.mail.fl_str_mv	dasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.ar
_version_	1842270118322634752
score	13.13397

Country-level gender inequality is associated with structural differences in the brains of women and men

Publicaciones similares