RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Brain FDG PET/CT revealed gender-related hemispheric laterality in middle- but did not in senior-age normal volunteers.
JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine
JO J Nucl Med
FD Society of Nuclear Medicine
SP 1854
OP 1854
VO 57
IS supplement 2
A1 Hattori, Naoya
A1 Ono, Shogo
A1 Harada, Tomoya
A1 Sugie, Hiroki
YR 2016
UL http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/57/supplement_2/1854.abstract
AB 1854Objectives Men's brain are known to be right hemispheric dominant than women's which may explain mens superiority in spatial and mathematical functions, while women are superior in language and communication skills. The purpose of the present study was to confirm the hemispheric difference using brain FDG PET/CT and to inspect possible influence of aging process on the gender-related hemispheric difference.Methods Study subjects were recruited from a cohort of business executives and his/her spouses who underwent a series of complete health check-up including brain MRI, MRA, and whole body PET/CT. The final study population included 55 men and 21 women. They were separated into two groups based on their age 1) Middle-Age group: 29 - 49 years old, consisting of 26 men and 11 women, 2) Senior-Age group: 50-74 years old, consisting of 29 men and 10 women. The acquisition protocol of PET/CT was modified for those who volunteered the study to obtain the brain FDG PET/CT images under the controlled conditions. After injection of 4MBq/kg of F-18 FDG, the volunteers were asked to take a rest in a light dimmed quiet room for a period of 60 minutes. Brain PET/CT acquisition was started after whole-body emission scans. Emission period of brain scan was 10 minutes, which was started 90 minutes after injection of FDG. Our study protocol employed filtered back-projection method for image reconstruction. The final spatial resolution was FWHM of 8mm after smoothing. Cortical grey matter activities were extracted using 3D-SSP, and the voxel-based statistical analyses were done using Neurostat. Differences of regional glucose metabolism were compared between age-matched men and women. The results of statistical analyses were expressed in a form of z-score value in each voxel.Results Gender-related hemispheric laterality was clearly observed in the Middle-Age volunteers, showing higher glucose metabolism in the right hemisphere in men (Table). Other gender related differences were observed in the bilateral posterior cingulate cortices and in the bilateral cuneus, showing lower glucose metabolism in men. The gender-related hemispheric laterality was not evident in the Senior-Age volunteers. Senior men showed higher glucose metabolism in occipital and temporal lobe bilaterally, and lower glucose metabolism in bilateral superior parietal lobes.Conclusions The results of the present study confirmed the gender-related hemispheric laterality only in the Middle-Age volunteers. Normal aging process may be associated with less gender related difference in right vs. left hemispheric functions. $$graphic_18973376-1019-44E1-8B26-88E8DD0AEDC8$$ View this table:Representative brain regions showing gender difference (Middle-Age, Men > Women)