Magnetic resonance morphometry in the assessment of gender dimorphism of the structural organization of the brain in schoolchildren 15–16 years old

Objective : to identify the morphometric characteristics and sex differences of the white and gray matter of the brain in school-age children. Materials and methods : the results of MR tomograms of the brain of 123 healthy schoolchildren aged 15-16 with normal physical development, who were examined before participating in sports competitions, were analyzed. The FreeSurfer software was used. Results : automatic segmentation, reconstruction and quantitative analysis of brain structures were performed, correction of the total intracranial volume was performed. Without adjusting for intracranial volume, the indicators of the white gray matter of the brain in boys were statistically significantly higher than those of girls. Conclusions : the predominance of the relative volumes of the cortical structures of the brain in girls over the indicators of their male peers was noted.