Sex Differences And The Brain Tal Levran

Research Still Suggests Males and Females Have Different Brains

The brain is without a doubt the most complex and confusing human organ. It has fascinated scientists for years with its many mysteries. In the 1960’s the first reports of the “split brain” emerged stating that the brain in fact had two hemispheres, a left and right one. This lead to research discovering that often people were “left or right brained” meaning that one hemisphere was dominant (Bellis & Wilber, 2001). This was one of the largest brain related discoveries made within the past century.

The issue with studying the brain is that almost all brain cells look like identical gray sacs, therefore determining which cell does what is very difficult. However, recently a study has found that using color dyes one can distinguish parts of the brain which would otherwise appear to be the same pieces of gray mass (Carey, 2007). Despite all this research, one question in particular remains unanswered for both political and scientific reasons, “Is there a difference between the male and female brain? And if there is, When do these differences develop?”

In general there are subtle differences between males and females other than their reproductive organs including the hormones we are exposed to. For example males mainly produce androgens usually testosterone which gives them a higher level of aggression and sexual drive than females (Booth, 2006), and some scientists suggest that testosterone can even increase the systemizing capability of the brain (Baron-Cohen, 2005). Females on the other hand are exposed to hormones like and progesterone which can “warp their perception of the world” (Booth, 2006). This hormone theory as I call it, would explain why there is a large difference between pre and post menopausal women. Another classic difference between males and females is their general personality. While some may argue that personality differences between genders are coincidence and due to nurture not nature, many studies have attributed gender to a child’s behavior since birth. “Boys from birth enjoy playing with more systems than girls do. Boys enjoy playing with things that have clear functions, buttons to press and things that light up, systems” (Baron-Cohen, 2005). If true this could lead to a revival of gender separated schools each with a gender specialized curriculum (Kommer, 2006).

In a study on what effects interhemispheric functions of the brain, a significant difference was found between the dichotic listening ability of males and females (Bellis & Wilber, 2001). Also the study found that while the ability of the hemispheres to communicate decreases over time the age at which the communication ability decreases differs between males and females.

These differences however are undefined because only a few scientists have dared to approach this topic for fear of being labeled sexist. Often a discovery in this field is found by accident as seen in the case of Sandra Witelson. In 1970 she was conducting a study on dyslexic children and their brain’s interhemispheric function. After running a test, she saw that while the differences between the hemispheres were apparent in the dyslexic children, the differences were much more profound in the girls tested. This was the first study which raised the possibility that the differences between boys and girls were more than cultural conditioning but rather something biological (Nichols, 1996). Since then few have studied these differences for the sake of studying these differences. However some scientists have conducted studies on this topic. One of these scientists, Simon Baron-Cohen expresses a theory of the systemizing and empathizing brain (Baron-Cohen, 2005).

Baron Cohen states that the systemizing brain or the male brain is most efficient when dealing with systems, math, science and other areas in which everything can be definitely determined. Baron-Cohen calls this brain the male brain because more males demonstrate this pattern of thinking. He then states that the female brain or empathizing brain is more efficient at analyzing social situations. While this view may seem incredibly sexist, in a way being able to analyze social situations states that females can better detect subtle hints and make a better analysis of any situation hypothesis whereas men rely on set rules and formulas which can only go so far. This hypothesis is unintentionally reinforced by a study published in the New York Times (Bakalar, 2007). This study found that female doctors based their diagnosis more on the way they saw the patient rather than the statistics such as his/her history. Males on the other hand almost relied entirely on the facts. Finally Baron-Cohen expresses the final type of brain, the balanced brain which is equally efficient in systemizing and empathizing though this brain type is a rare one.

Even though none of this research states that men nor women have different IQ’s no one, after seeing all of this research, can dismiss the possibility of a relationship between gender and brain performance. What these relationships are exactly we don’t know, however we now know that they exist and they are responsible for many subtle differences in many aspects of the lives of males and females.

References:

1. http://www.thedigitalbeat.com/2007/04/male-brain-vs-female-brain.html

2. www.newhorizons.org/neuro/diamond_male_female.htm

3. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/tech/nextnews/archive/next050121.htm