For example, there are reports of sex differences in hippocampal anatomy ( Filipek et al., 1994 Goldstein et al., 2001 Szabo et al., 2003 Mouiha and Duchesne, 2011 Han et al., 2013 Perlaki et al., 2014 Persson et al., 2014), hippocampal function ( Mackiewicz et al., 2006 Goldstein et al., 2010), hippocampal development ( Benes et al., 1994 Giedd et al., 1996 Suzuki et al., 2005 Hu et al., 2013 Lin et al., 2013) as well as hippocampal pathology and age-related atrophy ( Murphy et al., 1996 Briellmann et al., 2000 Exner et al., 2008 Li et al., 2014). This solid body of literature on hippocampus-specific meditation effects is matched by an at least equally significant body of literature on hippocampus-specific differences between male and female brains. Moreover, these cross-sectional findings are complemented by outcomes from longitudinal analyses suggesting an increase of hippocampal GM as a result of meditating ( Holzel et al., 2011). Outcomes of these imaging studies point to greater hippocampal dimensions in meditators, such as bigger hippocampal volumes, larger hippocampal distances, more hippocampal gray matter (GM), as well as a higher fractional anisotropy in fibers connecting to the hippocampus ( Holzel et al., 2008 Luders et al., 2009b, 2011, 2013a, b Murakami et al., 2012 Leung et al., 2013). Meditation-specific features of the hippocampus, including its connecting fiber tracts, have been examined using different imaging modalities, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Such sex-divergent findings may be due to genetic (innate) or acquired differences between male and female brains in the areas involved in meditation and/or suggest that male and female hippocampi are differently receptive to mindfulness practices. However, meditation effects differed between men and women in magnitude, laterality, and location on the hippocampal surface. Hippocampal dimensions were enlarged both in male and in female meditators when compared to sex- and age-matched controls. Thus, we obtained high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging data from 30 long-term meditation practitioners (15 men/15 women) and 30 well-matched control subjects (15 men/15 women) to assess if hippocampus-specific effects manifest differently in male and female brains. However, there is a lack of research exploring possible sex effects on hippocampal anatomy in the framework of meditation. On average, the human hippocampus shows structural differences between meditators and non-meditators as well as between men and women. 2Imaging Genetics Center, Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.1Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Hippocampus anatomy mri