Transcript Gender - Gateway IB 2012

Males > Females
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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. In all these tasks, women and men
are strikingly different, as they are too in the way
their brains process language.
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This may account for the fact that there are
many more male mathematicians, airplane
pilots, engineers, architects and race car
drivers than female ones.
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On the other hand, women are better than
men in human relations, recognizing
emotional overtones in others and in
language, emotional and artistic
expressiveness, esthetic appreciation, verbal
language and carrying out detailed and preplanned tasks
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Male brain is, however, 10% larger than
females
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Males have larger bodies, more muscle, and thus
need more neurons to control them
However, while men have more neurons in
the cerebral cortex, women have a more
developed neuropil, which is the space
between cell bodies, which contains
synapses, dendrites and axons, and allows for
communication among neurons
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This may explain why women are more prone
to dementia than men
Although both may lose the same number of
neurons due to the disease, males would be less
affected since they have a larger number of nerve
cells,
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This could prevent some of the functional losses
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Two areas in the frontal and temporal lobes
related to language (Broca and Wernicke)
were significantly larger in women
This provides a biological reason for women's
superiority in thoughts associated with
language
Using MRI’s, scientists found that women
had 23% more volume in Broca’s area and
13% more volume in Wernicke’s area than
men did
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The female brain processes verbal language
simultaneously in the two hemispheres of the
frontal brain
Men tend to process it in the left side only.
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This difference was demonstrated in a test that
asked subjects to read a list of nonsense words and
determine if they rhyme
People who use pictographic written
languages tend also to use both sides of the
brain, regardless of gender.
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Scientists working at Johns Hopkins
University have discovered that there is a
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
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Furthermore, the left side of the IPL is larger
in men than the right side
In women, it’s the other way around
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Although the difference between left and right
sides is not so large as in men, noted the JHU
researchers
This is the same area which was shown to be
larger in the brain of Albert Einstein, as well
as in other physicists and mathematicians.
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It seems that the IPL's size correlates highly with
mental mathematical abilities.
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The IPL allows the brain to process information
from senses and help in selective attention and
perception (for example, women are more able to
focus on specific stimuli, such as a baby crying in
the night).
Studies have linked the right IPL with the
memory involved in understanding and
manipulating spatial relationships and the ability
to sense relationships between body parts.
It is also related to the perception of our own
affects or feelings. The left IPL is involved with
perception of time and speed, and the ability of
mentally rotate 3-D figures
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One study measured the size of the
orbitofrontal cortex, a region involved in
regulating emotions, and compared it with the
size of the amygdala, which functions to
produce emotional reactions.
The investigators found that women possess a
significantly larger orbitofrontal-to-amygdala
ratio (OAR) than men do.
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This can mean that women might be more capable of
controlling their emotional reactions.
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Females have a larger deep limbic system than
males. This gives females several advantages and
disadvantages.
Due to the larger deep limbic brain women are
more in touch with their feelings, they are
generally better able to express their feelings than
men.
They have an increased ability to bond and be
connected to others .
Females have a more acute sense of smell, which is
likely to have developed from an evolutionary
need for the mother to recognize her young.
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Having a larger deep limbic system leaves a female
more susceptible to depression, especially at times of
significant hormonal changes such as the onset of
puberty
Women attempt suicide three times more than men do
Yet, men kill themselves three times more than
women, in part, because they use more violent means
of killing themselves (women tend to use overdoses
with pills while men tend to either shoot or hang
themselves) and men are generally less connected to
others than are women.
Disconnection from others increases the risk of
completed suicides.
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Females have a larger and more developed corpus
callosum than men
Better communication between the two sides
 Men tend to be more left brained
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Female’s have a larger and more developed frontal
lobe than men
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Heightened perception of emotions than men
The volume of a specific nucleus in the
hypothalamus is twice as large in heterosexual
men than in women and homosexual men
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This causes a debate on whether there is a biological
basis for homosexuality
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Females have mechanisms that enable them to
detect men that will benefit their offspring
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Genetic traits, paternal involvement
Males can detect females that promise rapid
production of offspring and a disinclination to
mate with other men (healthy, faithful, and
fertile)
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Men expect women to be faithful and women seek
faithful men
 Men do not feel compelled to remain faithful
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A hormone is a chemical substance produced
by an endocrine gland that has a specific effect
on the activities of other organs in the body
The major female and male hormones can be
classified as estrogens or androgens.
These are present in both males and females
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Men produce 6-8 mg of the male hormone
testosterone (an androgen) per day, compared to
most women who produce 0.5 mg daily.
Female hormones, estrogens, are also present in both
sexes, but in larger amounts for women.
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In men, estrogens have no known function. An
unusually high level, however, may reduce sexual
appetite, cause erectile difficulties, produce some
breast enlargement, and result in the loss of body hair
in some men.
Androgens are sex hormones produced primarily by a
male's testes, but are also produced in small amounts
by the female's ovaries and the adrenal gland, an organ
found in both sexes.
Androgens help trigger the development of the testes
and penis in the male fetus. They jump start the
process of puberty and influence the development of
facial and body hair, deepening of the voice, and
muscle development
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After puberty, androgens, specifically
testosterone, play a role in the regulation of the
sex drive.
Large deficiencies of testosterone may cause a
drop in sexual desire, and excessive
testosterone may heighten sexual interest in
both sexes