Does gender play a role in functional asymmetry of ventromedial prefrontal cortex?
Does gender play a role in functional asymmetry of ventromedial prefrontal cortex?
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DOI：
10.1093/brain/awh643
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发表时间：
2005-12-01
期刊：
影响因子：
14.5
通讯作者：
Bechara, A
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Tranel, D;Damasio, H;Bechara, A
我们之前在一项病变研究中发现，腹内侧前额叶皮质（VMPC）的右侧部分对社会/情感功能和决策至关重要，而左侧似乎不那么重要。碰巧的是，在这项研究中，除了一个人之外，所有的受试者都是男性，而其中一个女性并不太符合这个模式。这促使了一个后续的调查，在其中我们探讨了以下问题：性别是否发挥了作用，在发展中的缺陷，社会行为，情绪功能和决策，以下单方面VMPC的损害？我们从我们的患者登记中挑选了在左半球或右半球具有可比的单侧VMPC损伤的男性或女性同性患者对。两个男性对和一个女性对形成，我们包括两个额外的妇女与单侧右VMPC损害（共8例）。测量的领域包括社会行为、情绪处理和人格以及决策。我们发现了一个系统的影响，性别的模式，左右不对称的VMPC。在男性中，有严重的缺陷后，单侧右VMPC的损害，但没有以下左侧的损害。在女性中，单侧左VMPC损伤后有缺陷;然而，在右侧损伤后，缺陷是轻微的或不存在。研究结果表明，男性和女性可能会使用不同的策略来解决类似的问题，例如，男性可能会使用更全面的，完形型的策略，而女性可能会使用更分析，言语介导的策略。这种差异可能反映了左右VMPC区神经生物学的不对称性、性别相关差异。
We found previously in a lesion study that the right-sided sector of the ventromedial prefrontal cortices (VMPCs) was critical for social/emotional functioning and decision-making, whereas the left side appeared to be less important. It so happened that all but one of the subjects in that study were men, and the one woman did not fit the pattern very well. This prompted a follow-up investigation, in which we explored the following question: Does gender play a role in the development of defects in social conduct, emotional functioning and decision-making, following unilateral VMPC damage? We culled from our Patient Registry same-sex pairs of men or women patients who had comparable unilateral VMPC damage in either the left or right hemisphere. Two male pairs and one female pair were formed, and we included two additional women with unilateral right VMPC damage (8 patients in all). The domains of measurement covered social conduct, emotional processing and personality, and decision-making. We found a systematic effect of gender on the pattern of left-right asymmetry in VMPC. In men, there were severe defects following unilateral right VMPC damage, but not following left-sided damage. In women, there were defects following unilateral left VMPC damage; following right-sided damage, however, defects were mild or absent. The findings suggest that men and women may use different strategies to solve similar problems-e.g. men may use a more holistic, gestalt-type strategy, and women may use a more analytic, verbally-mediated strategy. Such differences could reflect asymmetric, gender-related differences in the neurobiology of left and right VMPC sectors.