Sex differences in brain structure between students talented in math and science and developed peers

In this study, we compare the sex differences in brain structure between math- and science-talented (MST) students and their typically developed (TD) peers, involving 36 MST (16 male and 20 female) and 37 TD (20 male and 17 female) students. The research instruments used in this study were the "High School Intelligence Test," the "Basic Competence Test for Junior High School Students," and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI data were processed with voxel-based morphometery (VBM) implemented in statistical parametric mapping (SPM). The results show that (1) MST students displayed larger gray matter volumes than TD students did in the cortical regions related to intelligence and math/science achievement scores; TD students showed larger gray matter volumes than MST students did in motor and somatosensory cortical regions; (2) Male students showed greater gray matter volumes than female students did in the cortical regions involved in mathematical tasks, information processing, and negative emotions; female students showed larger gray matter volumes than their male counterparts did in higher cognitive and somatosensory cortical regions; (3) The results of this study indicate that both innate and acquired abilities might affect brain development.