The human brain connectome is a new and rapidly developing project in neuroscience. The pattern of structural and functional connectivity in the brain is not fixed, but is continuously changing in response to experiences. Exploring these phenomena opens a powerful arsenal of analyses and computational approaches that could provide important new insights into clinical and cognitive neuroscience.
The aim of the present study was to investigate the structural plasticity of the cortical areas of the brain during a memory task performance using functional MRI. Fifteen right-handed male subjects and fourteen right-handed female subjects were scanned during memory paradigm performance. The scanning of the participants was performed with a 3Т MRI system - GE Discovery 750 w with a protocol including structural scan - Sag 3D T1 F-BRAVO FSPGR, slice thickness 1 mm, matrix 256х256, flip angle 10о and standard block design functional scan - 2D EPI, slice thickness 3 mm, matrix 64х64, TR (repetition time) - 3000 msec, TE (echo time) -30, flip angle 90о. Data were analysed using the SPM 12 (Statistical Paramertic Mapping) software running on MATLAB R2015 for Windows. The level of statistical significance was set at P < 0.05.
Statistical significance in brain cortical activation was not found between males and females. We found reliable occipital and temporal signal response across the block design contrasts with statistically significant differences within the groups in both genders. The results highlighted several detailed differences between males and females and potential future directions in brain activation studies.
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