The Gendered Brain
Are there really differences between men and women's brains? If there are
differences, are these variations observable? And in what aspects or parts
of the brain can they be located?
| "At least 100 sex differences in
male and female brains have been described so far. They
keep cropping up in animal and human studies."- Nancy Forger,
Professor for the Center of Nueroendocrine Studies and Department
of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst |
|
The debate of dissimilarities within male and
female brains is a highly contentious and controversial one. Most scientists
agree that there is no significant disparity between the intelligence of men
and women, but argue that there is growing evidence that their brains are
wired and operate differently. Though with that said, one must
be aware that there are many more differences in the brain just between individuals
than between groups of people or between the sexes.
One study argues that connections between the left and right hemispheres are
generally larger and experience more frequent interaction in the brains of
women, while men have greater hemisphere separation. These traits are
argued to be the reason for a woman's increased ability to acquire new languages
and better determine perceptions and intuitions. This difference might
partly explain why studies have shown that infant girls speak sooner and use
more words than infant boys. The separation between hemispheres observed
in males is said to explain their ability to experience abstract reasoning
and obtain visual-spacial intelligence.
Another perspective approaches these possible differences by addressing the
sizes of the male and female brains as well as the size and amount of cells
contained in the hypothalamus.
From birth, the average male
brain is larger than the females, however, this correlates to the overall size
of newborn males being larger than females, but does not suggest discrepancies
in intelligence. Females and males born at the same body weight, generally
shared the same size brain. The relationship of brain size being proportionality
related to body size continues to exist throughout human life.
As an example of variations with
respect to parts of the brain, the preoptic area of the hypothalamus is 2.2 times
larger in males than in females and has nearly twice as many cells. The
function of the preoptic nucleus is currently unknown, but is known to be related
to mating behaviors.
A study released in January 2005 points to commonalities and discrepancies of
sex-specific or sex-biased diseases, as a bases for clear divisions with regards
to the the idea of gender differentiated brains. Nearly all neurodevelopmental
diseases are either more common in one gender or more severe among one gender,
says Nancy Forger of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Depression,
for example, appears to be twice as common in women as in men while women with
schizophrenia seem to suffer less cognitive difficulties than men with the condition.
For more information check out these links:
Neuroscience for Kids
Men & Women:
Differences
ABC News: Scientists Find Sex Differences in Brain
ScienCentralNews: What Sex Is Your Brain
This page has been created by Senior Honors Institute Fellow James Knupp. |
