(2010), sex differences in brain structure and function make it necessary to explore the relationship MK 1775 between intelligence and brain parameters separately for both sexes (even when there are no general ability differences in intelligence). Tang et al. (2010) analyzed intelligence differences separately for the two sexes and found that higher intelligent males show lower FA in the forceps major, while in females, FA in parts of the forceps major (extension of the splenium) is positively correlated with general intelligence. The negative FA correlation in men was interpreted as an indicator of interference from contralateral sides of the brain who rely mostly

on the right side of the brain. The positive FA correlation in women was associated with the observation that the splenium may be larger in females. A developmental study by Wang et al. (2012) used TBSS

to study sex differences in the association between intelligence and white matter microstructure in the adolescent brain. Considering the whole sample, selleck chemicals llc full-scale IQ was positively related to FA in the frontal part of the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, which suggests that region specific increases in FA are associated with optimal cognitive performance. Moreover, in females, significant correlations between verbal IQ and FA could be found in two clusters including the left corticospinal tract and superior longitudinal fasciculus (a region associated with language). Considering full-scale IQ, however, no correlations with FA could be found neither in females nor males. The literature usually reports no sex differences in general intelligence. From

the above reviewed literature, however, it becomes evident that the relationship between intelligence and brain structure may vary between the sexes. Thus, the current study aims at testing whether sex moderates the correlation between intelligence and the white matter microstructure applying TBSS. Most of the research on white matter microstructure is based on region of interest (ROI) analyses or fiber tracking analyses. A novel method is to use tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS; ROS1 Smith et al., 2006) to perform automated analysis of white matter integrity. TBSS uses a carefully tuned nonlinear registration method followed by a projection onto a mean FA skeleton. This skeleton represents the centers of all tracts common to the group and the resulting data fed into voxel-wise cross-subject statistics. Thus, TBSS combines the strength of both voxel-based and tractographic analyses to overcome the limitations of conventional methods including standard registration algorithms and spatial smoothing. TBSS is assumed to improve the sensitivity, objectivity, and interpretability of multi-subject diffusion imaging studies (Smith et al., 2006). In addition to analyses of FA, we also investigate RD and AD, which allows for a clearer interpretation of potential FA differences in terms of myelination and axonal integrity.