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Sex differences in functional brain networks involved in interoception: An fMRI study

Interoception can be described as the ability to perceive inner body sensations and it is different between biological sex. However, no previous research correlated this ability with brain functional connectivity (FC) between males and females. In this study, we used resting-state functional magneti...

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Autores principales: Alfano, Vincenzo, Cavaliere, Carlo, Di Cecca, Angelica, Ciccarelli, Giuseppina, Salvatore, Marco, Aiello, Marco, Federico, Giovanni
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10043182/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36998736
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2023.1130025
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author Alfano, Vincenzo
Cavaliere, Carlo
Di Cecca, Angelica
Ciccarelli, Giuseppina
Salvatore, Marco
Aiello, Marco
Federico, Giovanni
author_facet Alfano, Vincenzo
Cavaliere, Carlo
Di Cecca, Angelica
Ciccarelli, Giuseppina
Salvatore, Marco
Aiello, Marco
Federico, Giovanni
author_sort Alfano, Vincenzo
collection PubMed
description Interoception can be described as the ability to perceive inner body sensations and it is different between biological sex. However, no previous research correlated this ability with brain functional connectivity (FC) between males and females. In this study, we used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate FC of networks involved in interoception among males and females in a sample of healthy volunteers matched for age. In total, 67 participants (34 females, mean age 44.2; 33 males, mean age 37.2) underwent a functional MRI session and completed the Self-Awareness Questionnaire (SAQ) that tests the interoceptive awareness. To assess the effect of sex on scores obtained on the SAQ we performed a multivariate analysis of variance. A whole-brain seed-to-seed FC analysis was conducted to investigate the correlation between SAQ score and FC, and then to test differences in FC between males and females with SAQ score as a covariate. MANOVA revealed a significant difference in SAQ scores between males and females with higher values for the second ones. Also, significant correlations among interoception scores and FC in Salience network and fronto-temporo-parietal brain areas have been detected, with a sharp prevalence for the female. These results support the idea of a female advantage in the attention toward interoceptive sensations, suggesting common inter-network areas that concur to create the sense of self.
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spelling pubmed-100431822023-03-29 Sex differences in functional brain networks involved in interoception: An fMRI study Alfano, Vincenzo Cavaliere, Carlo Di Cecca, Angelica Ciccarelli, Giuseppina Salvatore, Marco Aiello, Marco Federico, Giovanni Front Neurosci Neuroscience Interoception can be described as the ability to perceive inner body sensations and it is different between biological sex. However, no previous research correlated this ability with brain functional connectivity (FC) between males and females. In this study, we used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate FC of networks involved in interoception among males and females in a sample of healthy volunteers matched for age. In total, 67 participants (34 females, mean age 44.2; 33 males, mean age 37.2) underwent a functional MRI session and completed the Self-Awareness Questionnaire (SAQ) that tests the interoceptive awareness. To assess the effect of sex on scores obtained on the SAQ we performed a multivariate analysis of variance. A whole-brain seed-to-seed FC analysis was conducted to investigate the correlation between SAQ score and FC, and then to test differences in FC between males and females with SAQ score as a covariate. MANOVA revealed a significant difference in SAQ scores between males and females with higher values for the second ones. Also, significant correlations among interoception scores and FC in Salience network and fronto-temporo-parietal brain areas have been detected, with a sharp prevalence for the female. These results support the idea of a female advantage in the attention toward interoceptive sensations, suggesting common inter-network areas that concur to create the sense of self. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-03-14 /pmc/articles/PMC10043182/ /pubmed/36998736 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2023.1130025 Text en Copyright © 2023 Alfano, Cavaliere, Di Cecca, Ciccarelli, Salvatore, Aiello and Federico. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Neuroscience
Alfano, Vincenzo
Cavaliere, Carlo
Di Cecca, Angelica
Ciccarelli, Giuseppina
Salvatore, Marco
Aiello, Marco
Federico, Giovanni
Sex differences in functional brain networks involved in interoception: An fMRI study
title Sex differences in functional brain networks involved in interoception: An fMRI study
title_full Sex differences in functional brain networks involved in interoception: An fMRI study
title_fullStr Sex differences in functional brain networks involved in interoception: An fMRI study
title_full_unstemmed Sex differences in functional brain networks involved in interoception: An fMRI study
title_short Sex differences in functional brain networks involved in interoception: An fMRI study
title_sort sex differences in functional brain networks involved in interoception: an fmri study
topic Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10043182/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36998736
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2023.1130025
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