Brain Differences in Men and Women - Literature review Example

The brain is differently constructed in men and women; it processes information in different way, which results in different perceptions, priorities and behavior The structure of brain and its particular functions have been extensively examined in the literature. In this context, it has been found that women’s brain is different in terms of its functions than the men’s brain. Moreover, the position of brain has been also found to be different in men than in women. A series of studies that have dealt with the specific issue, are presenting in this paper trying to identify the main aspects of the brain’s functions in both the genders. Towards this direction, empirical research has been also included in the material used in current paper. The evaluation of the results leads to the assumption that there are many differences in the construction and the functions of brain between men and women. In the long term, this differentiation influences on human behaviour formulating different abilities and reactions between men and women. The identification of the differences in brain construction between men and women was achieved approximately in the decade of 1960s. More specifically in accordance with a research published by the Society for Neuroscience (2007) ‘in the late 1960s and early 1970s scientists found the first clear evidence that brain differences exist, in rodents at least; one study showed differences in nerve cell body size in an area of the brain known as the hypothalamus, which is important for feeding, drinking and reproduction’. In fact, differentiation in the construction and the functions of brain between men and women can be observed in the early years of adolescence. For this reason, the statistical data revealed through a research published by the Society for Women’s Health Research (2004) showed that ‘males age 6-17 years have been shown to display more prominent age-related decreases in gray matter (the part of the brain that allows us to think) and increases in white matter (which transfers information between distant regions) than females; these changes in brain composition appear to be linked to developmental processes in which nerve cell connections are “pruned” in gray matter and made more efficient (myelinated) in white matter’. At a next level, the above differentiation can lead to a series of different reactions to specific events; however these reactions cannot be precisely estimated in advance. Only suggestions can be made on the possible behaviour of men and women under specific circumstances. Moreover, there are certain common elements on the behaviour of the two genders (as a response to specific events); however these elements are differentiated in each particular case (i.e. regarding each person’s reactions to specific events) in accordance with personal experiences and attitudes (intervention of social and personal framework to biological characteristics and genetic-related trends). In accordance with another research it is suggested that ‘women have smaller brains than men, with women having more gray matter and men having more white matter; this finding may help explain why women are typically better than men at verbal tasks, while men are typically better than women at spatial tasks, as well as why the sexes perform equally well on intelligence tests in spite of males having larger brains’ (Society for Women’s Health Research, August 2004). The above study is particular important in the explanation of the behaviour of men and women within a particular social environment. As already explained above men and women can have different responses (even to the same events); however their behaviour should not be considered as the result only of their ‘biological structure’ and more particularly of the structure and the physiology of their brain; it is rather the result of their personal characteristics in terms of social position; their experiences and their personal views. A characteristic difference between men and women (in terms of their behaviour) is their approach to time. More specifically, it is noticed by Sabbatini (1997, that ‘one of the most interesting differences appear in the way men and women estimate time, judge speed of things, carry out mental mathematical calculations, orient in space and visualize objects in three dimensions, etc’. It seems that the capability of men to estimate time is related with their brain. It is for the main reason that women have been proved to be more capable than men ‘in human relations, recognizing emotional overtones in others and in language, emotional and artistic expressiveness, aesthetic appreciation, verbal language and carrying out detailed and pre-planned tasks’ (Sabbatini, R. (1997). In other words, the differences in the construction of brain between men and women can be considered to be the main reason for their different responses to specific daily activities. In this way, men are proved to be more practical where women are more social. The above assumption is also supported by a research published by the Society of NeuroScience (2007) in which it is supported that ‘tests show that women generally can recall lists of words or paragraphs of text better than men. On the other hand, men usually perform better on tests that require the ability to mentally rotate an image in order to solve a problem’ (Society for Neurscience, 2007). All the above differences seem to be explained using the principles of biology. More specifically, Sabbatini (2007) reveals that ‘scientists working at Johns Hopkins University have discovered that there is a brain region in the cortex, called inferior-parietal lobule (IPL) which is significantly larger in men than in women; this area is bilateral and is located just above the level of the ears (parietal cortex); furthermore, the left side IPL is larger in men than the right side; in women, this asymmetry is reversed’. The specific difference in the construction of brain between men and women can be used in order to explain the high performance of men in mathematics and the high performance of women in the area of public relations. Of course, there are also exceptions in the above rule. There are women capable of performing complex mathematical equations and men that are highly socialized. It seems that the rules of biology related with the construction and the functions of brain can have many interpretations; it is also possible that in the above cases genetic differences have offered to the particular persons the ability to perform the above tasks. An interesting experiment has been made at the University of Indiana. In the relevant research approximately 40 persons (20 men and 20 women) were called to listen a passage from a specific novel. The reactions of the brain of the participants were monitored. In accordance with the above research ‘a majority of the men showed exclusive activity on the left side of the brain, in the temporal lobe, which is classically associated with listening and speech; the majority of women showed activity in the temporal lobe on both sides of the brain, although predominantly on the left’ (Indiana University, School of Medicine. November 28, 2000). Furthermore, it seems that the differences in brain construction between men and women have a significant important on the response of their body to the treatment made because of a specific disease or accident. Towards this direction, the responses to employment of men and women that have suffered a severe brain injury have been observed. The relevant research proved that ‘there were significant interactions for sex by age and sex by marital status; compared with men, women were more likely to decrease hours or stop working, except in the oldest age group (55-64y) in which men were more likely to stop working’ (Corrigan et al., 2007, 1400). Another study showed that ‘the same clinical severity of dementia is associated with greater reductions in cerebral metabolism in men than in women suggesting a greater degree of brain reserve in men’ (Perneczky et al., 2007, 1395). On the other hand, Sullivan et al. (2007) found that ‘aging men and women were shown to have diminished postural control, associated with cognitive and brain structural involution, in unstable stance conditions and with diminished sensory input’. In other words, difference in brain construction between men and women can have significant effects not only in their behaviour but also in their responses towards specific events. Generally, it could be stated that the differences in the behaviour of men and women have been extensively studied by researchers around the world. All studies prove that there is a strong relation between the behaviour and the brain construction; differences in the responses of persons involved were also identified. This differentiation was proved to be related with the gender of people that participated in the relevant studies while common patterns of behaviour and mental capabilities were found to exist in persons that belong to the same gender. In other words, the relation of human behaviour and the human responses to specific events with the brain construction has been entirely proved in practice. References Corrigan, J., Lineberry, L., Komaroff, E., Langlois, J., Selassie, A., Wood, K. (2007) Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilation, 88(11): 1400-1409 Indiana University, School of Medicine. November 28, 2000. Men Do Hear -- But Differently Than Women, [Online], available at http://www.medicine.indiana.edu/news_releases/archive_00/men_hearing00.html Perneczky, R., Drzezga, A., Diehl-Schmid, L., Kurz, A. (2007) Gender differences in brain reserve: An (18) F-FDG PET study in Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of Neurology, 254(10): 1395-1400 Sabbatini, R. (1997) Are there differences between the brains of males and females? Brain and Mind, [Online], available at http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n11/mente/eisntein/cerebro-homens.html Society for Women’s Health Research. August 2004. Structure and Function Differences in the brain, [Online], available at http://www.womenshealthresearch.org/site/PageServer?pagename=hs_facts_brain Society for Neuroscience (2007) Gender and the brain, [Online], available at http://www.sfn.org/index.cfm?pagename=brainBriefings_genderAndTheBrain Sullivan, E., Rose, J., Rohlfing, T., Pfefferbaum, A. (2007) Postural sway reduction in aging men and women: Relation to brain structure, cognitive status and stabilizing factors. Neurobiol Aging, October 5, 2007 Read More