Enlarged Temporal Lobes in Turner Syndrome: An X-chromosome Effect?

Abstract

Gender differences in brain morphology have previously been reported in the temporal lobe and an 'X-chromosome dosage effect' has been described in Turner syndrome (45,X). To examine this further, we investigated temporal lobe morphology, metabolism and function in nine children with non-mosaic Turner syndrome using magnetic resonance imaging, 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy and neuropsychological testing and compared outcomes with results from nine age-matched control girls (46,XX). Turner subjects were found to have significantly larger superior temporal lobes (P = 0.004) and middle temporal lobes (P = 0.047) than controls. The size of the temporal lobe was found to correlate negatively..