Behavioral Correlates of Corpus Callosum Size: Anatomical/behavioral Relationships Vary Across Sex/handedness Groups

Overview

Journal Neuropsychologia

Specialties Neurology
Psychology

Date 2009 Apr 23

PMID 19383501

Citations 10

Authors

Suzanne E Welcome

Christine Chiarello

Stephen Towler

Laura K Halderman

Ronald Otto

Christiana M Leonard

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

There are substantial individual differences in the size and shape of the corpus callosum and such differences are thought to relate to behavioral lateralization. We report findings from a large scale investigation of relationships between brain anatomy and behavioral asymmetry on a battery of visual word recognition tasks. A sample of 200 individuals was divided into groups on the basis of sex and consistency of handedness. We investigated differences between sex/handedness groups in callosal area and relationships between callosal area and behavioral predictors. Sex/handedness groups did not show systematic differences in callosal area or behavioral asymmetry. However, the groups differed in the relationships between area of the corpus callosum and behavioral asymmetry. Among consistent-handed males, callosal area was negatively related to behavioral laterality. Among mixed-handed males and consistent-handed females, behavioral laterality was not predictive of callosal area. The most robust relationship was observed in mixed-handed females, in whom behavioral asymmetry was positively related to callosal area. Our study demonstrates the importance of considering brain/behavior relationships within sub-populations, as relationships between behavioral asymmetry and callosal anatomy varied across subject groups.

Citing Articles

No Incidental Memory Advantage for Mixed Handed vs. Consistent Right Handed Participants: Conflicting Results From Earlier Research.

Johansen H, Rusten E, Westerhausen R Percept Mot Skills. 2024; 131(6):2049-2068.

PMID: 39394770 PMC: 11575099. DOI: 10.1177/00315125241291266.

Handedness and midsagittal corpus callosum morphology: a meta-analytic evaluation.

Westerhausen R, Papadatou-Pastou M Brain Struct Funct. 2021; 227(2):545-559.

PMID: 34851460 PMC: 8843913. DOI: 10.1007/s00429-021-02431-4.

Bilingualism Influences Structural Indices of Interhemispheric Organization.

Felton A, Vazquez D, Ramos-Nunez A, Greene M, McDowell A, Hernandez A J Neurolinguistics. 2017; 42:1-11.

PMID: 28579694 PMC: 5450970. DOI: 10.1016/j.jneuroling.2016.10.004.

Sex differences in the relationship between planum temporale asymmetry and corpus callosum morphology in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): A combined MRI and DTI analysis.

Hopkins W, Hopkins A, Misiura M, Latash E, Mareno M, Schapiro S Neuropsychologia. 2016; 93(Pt B):325-334.

PMID: 27055947 PMC: 5050170. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.04.003.

Neurostructural correlates of consistent and weak handedness.

McDowell A, Felton A, Vazquez D, Chiarello C Laterality. 2015; 21(4-6):348-370.

PMID: 26470000 PMC: 4833690. DOI: 10.1080/1357650X.2015.1096939.

References

LaMantia A, Rakic P . Cytological and quantitative characteristics of four cerebral commissures in the rhesus monkey. J Comp Neurol. 1990; 291(4):520-37. DOI: 10.1002/cne.902910404. View

Suganthy J, Raghuram L, Antonisamy B, Vettivel S, Madhavi C, Koshi R . Gender- and age-related differences in the morphology of the corpus callosum. Clin Anat. 2003; 16(5):396-403. DOI: 10.1002/ca.10161. View

Denenberg V, Kertesz A, Cowell P . A factor analysis of the human's corpus callosum. Brain Res. 1991; 548(1-2):126-32. DOI: 10.1016/0006-8993(91)91113-f. View

Kawaguchi Y . Receptor subtypes involved in callosally-induced postsynaptic potentials in rat frontal agranular cortex in vitro. Exp Brain Res. 1992; 88(1):33-40. DOI: 10.1007/BF02259126. View

Niebauer C, Garvey K . Gödel, Escher, and degree of handedness: differences in interhemispheric interaction predict differences in understanding self-reference. Laterality. 2004; 9(1):19-34. DOI: 10.1080/13576500342000130. View

Smith S, Jenkinson M, Woolrich M, Beckmann C, Behrens T, Johansen-Berg H . Advances in functional and structural MR image analysis and implementation as FSL. Neuroimage. 2004; 23 Suppl 1:S208-19. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.07.051. View

Christman S, Propper R . Superior episodic memory is associated with interhemispheric processing. Neuropsychology. 2002; 15(4):607-16. DOI: 10.1037//0894-4105.15.4.607. View

Jancke L, Staiger J, Schlaug G, Huang Y, Steinmetz H . The relationship between corpus callosum size and forebrain volume. Cereb Cortex. 1997; 7(1):48-56. DOI: 10.1093/cercor/7.1.48. View

Westerhausen R, Kreuder F, Dos Santos Sequeira S, Walter C, Woerner W, Arne Wittling R . The association of macro- and microstructure of the corpus callosum and language lateralisation. Brain Lang. 2005; 97(1):80-90. DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2005.07.133. View

10.

Polk M, Kertesz A . Music and language in degenerative disease of the brain. Brain Cogn. 1993; 22(1):98-117. DOI: 10.1006/brcg.1993.1027. View

11.

Westerhausen R, Kreuder F, Dos Santos Sequeira S, Walter C, Woerner W, Arne Wittling R . Effects of handedness and gender on macro- and microstructure of the corpus callosum and its subregions: a combined high-resolution and diffusion-tensor MRI study. Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 2004; 21(3):418-26. DOI: 10.1016/j.cogbrainres.2004.07.002. View

12.

Kertesz A, Polk M, Howell J, Black S . Cerebral dominance, sex, and callosal size in MRI. Neurology. 1987; 37(8):1385-8. DOI: 10.1212/wnl.37.8.1385. View

13.

Chiarello C, Welcome S, Halderman L, Towler S, Julagay J, Otto R . A large-scale investigation of lateralization in cortical anatomy and word reading: are there sex differences?. Neuropsychology. 2009; 23(2):210-22. PMC: 3086359. DOI: 10.1037/a0014265. View

14.

Christman S . Handedness in musicians: bimanual constraints on performance. Brain Cogn. 1993; 22(2):266-72. DOI: 10.1006/brcg.1993.1038. View

15.

Westerhausen R, Woerner W, Kreuder F, Schweiger E, Hugdahl K, Wittling W . The role of the corpus callosum in dichotic listening: a combined morphological and diffusion tensor imaging study. Neuropsychology. 2006; 20(3):272-9. DOI: 10.1037/0894-4105.20.3.272. View

16.

Bishop K, Wahlsten D . Sex differences in the human corpus callosum: myth or reality?. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 1997; 21(5):581-601. DOI: 10.1016/s0149-7634(96)00049-8. View

17.

Conti F, Manzoni T . The neurotransmitters and postsynaptic actions of callosally projecting neurons. Behav Brain Res. 1994; 64(1-2):37-53. DOI: 10.1016/0166-4328(94)90117-1. View

18.

Preuss U, Meisenzahl E, Frodl T, Zetzsche T, Holder J, Leinsinger G . Handedness and corpus callosum morphology. Psychiatry Res. 2002; 116(1-2):33-42. DOI: 10.1016/s0925-4927(02)00064-1. View

19.

Propper R, Christman S, Phaneuf K . A mixed-handed advantage in episodic memory: a possible role of interhemispheric interaction. Mem Cognit. 2005; 33(4):751-7. DOI: 10.3758/bf03195341. View

20.

Sullivan E, Rosenbloom M, Desmond J, Pfefferbaum A . Sex differences in corpus callosum size: relationship to age and intracranial size. Neurobiol Aging. 2001; 22(4):603-11. DOI: 10.1016/s0197-4580(01)00232-9. View