What this means
Researchers built separate brain growth charts for males and females from brain scans. The charts show that males tend to reach some brain milestones later than females.
Plain-English summary written by an AI model from the abstract. The original is below.
- Who it was tested in
- 59,915 healthy people aged from before birth to 100 years, from brain scans. This is a preprint, not yet checked by other scientists.
- Kind of research
- Early results, not yet checked by other scientists
The science
- Original title
- Charting sex divergence in the human brain across the lifespan
- Authors
- Zhu, M., Sun, L., Xia, M. et al.
- Journal
- bioRxiv (preprint, not yet peer reviewed)
- Published
- Oct 14, 2026
- Study type
- Preprint
Abstract
Biological sex fundamentally shapes human brain organization, but sex-specific normative neuroanatomical trajectories across the lifespan remain largely uncharted. Here, we constructed independent, sex-specific lifespan brain charts using structural neuroimaging data from 59,915 healthy individuals (29,760 males and 30,155 females) ranging in age from 266 postconception days to 100 years. By examining 296 structural phenotypes across global, cortical, and subcortical measures, these models revealed widespread sex differences in maturational timing, with males reaching peak milestones later than females. These trajectories demonstrate that sex differences evolve dynamically, with phenotype-specific windows of emergence and maximal separation. Compared with conventional sex-pooled references, sex-specific models achieved superior predictive accuracy and reduced misestimation of individual deviations in healthy populations. Across five neuropsychiatric conditions, sex-specific models improved the detection of extreme deviations and revealed both shared and sex-dependent patterns of disorder-related neuroanatomical abnormalities. These sex-specific charts establish tailored normative references for assessing brain development, ageing, and disease.
Zhu, M., Sun, L., Xia, M. et al. Charting sex divergence in the human brain across the lifespan. bioRxiv. 2026. doi:10.64898/2026.10.11.758308. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.10.11.758308