Sex Differences and Behavioral Associations with Typically Developing Pediatric Regional Cerebellar Gray Matter Volume

Abstract

The cerebellum contributes to motor and higher-order control throughout neurodevelopment, with marked growth during childhood. Few studies have investigated differential associations of cerebellar morphometry with function in males and females. The present study examines sex differences in regional cerebellar gray matter volume (GMV) and the moderating effect of sex on the relationship between GMV and motor, cognitive, and emotional functions in a large cohort of typically developing (TD) children. Participants included 371 TD children (123 females, age 8-12 years). A convolutional neural network-based approach was employed for cerebellar parcellation. Volumes were harmonized using ComBat to adjust for hardware-induced variations. Regression analyses examined the effect of sex on GMV and whether sex moderated the relationship between GMV and motor, cognitive, and emotional functions. Males showed larger GMV in right lobules I-V, bilateral lobules VI, crus II/VIIb, and VIII, left lobule X, and vermis regions I-V and VIII-X. Greater motor function correlated with less vermis VI-VII GMV in females. Greater cognitive function correlated with greater left lobule VI GMV in females and less left lobule VI GMV in males. Finally, greater internalizing symptoms correlated with greater bilateral lobule IX GMV in females but less in males. These findings reveal sexually dimorphic patterns of cerebellar structure and associations with motor, cognitive, and emotional functions. Males generally show larger GMV than females. Larger GMV was associated with better cognitive functioning for females and better motor/emotional functioning for males.

Keywords: Behavioral associations; Cerebellum; Pediatric; Regional gray matter volume; Sex differences; Typically developing.

Fig. 1

Gray matter volume varies by sex and region after correcting for TIV. Estimated marginal means and standard error for gray matter volume are displayed for males and females for each ROI from post-hoc analyses (Table 2). R, right lobule; L, left lobule; V, vermis; I, crus I; II, crus II. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001

Fig. 2

Sex moderates the relationship between GMV and emotional measures. The relationships between CBCL internalizing symptoms and GMV in bilateral lobule IX are moderated by sex. Estimated marginal means and standard error for normalized CBCL scores are displayed. M, male; F, female