Sexual dimorphism of the human corpus callosum: Digital morphometric study

Spasojević Goran (Zavod za anatomiju, Medicinski fakultet, Banja Luka, Republika Srpska)
Stojanović Zlatan (Zavod za anatomiju, Medicinski fakultet, Banja Luka, Republika Srpska)
Šuščević Dušan (Zavod za anatomiju, Medicinski fakultet, Banja Luka, Republika Srpska)
Malobabić Slobodan (Institut za anatomiju, Medicinski fakultet, Beograd)

Background/Aim. Changes in the morphology and the size of the corpus callosum, are related to various pathological conditions. An analysis of these changes requires data about sexual dimorphism of the corpus callosum, which we tried to obtain in our study. We also investigated the method of digital morphometry and compared the obtained results with the results of other authors obtained by magnetic resonance imaging or by planimetry. Methods. A morphological research included 34 human brains (cadavers of both sexes − 19 female and 15 male aged 26−72 years). By digital morphometry using an AutoCAD software we performed measurements in the corpus callosum: the length (L), width in the half of its length (WW’), length of its cortical margin (LCM), area and perimeter of the anterior and posterior callosal segments, as well as the area and perimeter of the corpus callosum section area. The investigated parameters were analyzed and compared between the females and males. Results. There was not a statistically significant difference between the males and females in the investigated parameters of the corpus callosum (t test; p > 0.05), including the mean values of the two most important parameters, the surface of its midsagittal section area (males 654.11 mm2; females 677.40 mm2) and of its perimeter (males 19.61 cm; females 19.72 cm). The results obtained by digital morphometry were in the range of the results of other authors obtained by magnetic resonance and by planimetry. However, the value of Pearson coefficient of linear correlation between the section surface area and perimeter of the corpus callosum in the males was highly significant (rxy = 0.6943, p< 0.01), while in the females this value was statistically insignificant. Conclusion. Digital morphometry is accurate method in encephalometric investigations. Our results suggest that the problem of sexual dimorphism of the corpus callosum is very complex, because the identical variables (section surface area or its perimeter) do not exhibit the same behavior in males and in females, implicating that these variables even cannot be simply compared between the sexes.

Keywords: corpus callosum, sex characteristics, research design, data interpretation, statistical, anthropometry