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Written by Rohaan Solare on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 18:28 - Comment

Social Building Block #1: Some Gender Behavioral Differences Related to Brain Differences.

Tags: Behavior, Brain Power, Gender Inequality, Gender Balance, Psychology, Social Science

brain-cell It seems as if variances in brain architecture are responsible for some of the behavioral differences seen between men and women.

It’s in the wiring some say. Not so fast. Size of the wiring matters–say others. Slow down some more. Others say that culture is responsible for certain differences.

And still another factor is the chemical soup that our brain is immersed in. Finally, there is the role that environmental pressures play in genetic expression.

Gene-Culture-Environment Interaction

Environmentally modulated genetic expression in turn determines how much a certain brain structure will develop or how much of a particular hormone will be produced. The aforementioned factors and the feedback loop between them is best visualized by the diagram to the right.

nature-nuture-chart At the end of the day all of the identifiable variables must be taken into account in order to best understand the differences between behaviors enviro-culturally (experience-environment) acquired and those acquired from our “fixed” genetic inheritance.

The research findings in the areas of gene-environment interaction(epigenetics) may even make it pointless to discuss behavior as coming from either inheritance or experience-environment (enviro-cultural).

Geneticists are finding out that foods or chemicals your grandmother was exposed to can affect not only her children, but her grandchildren as well. The question is at what point does the gene-environment interaction start and end?

Social Implications

With respect to male-female differences there are behavioral features that will always be either distinctly female or distinctly male. We know testosterone to be the masculinizing hormone and estrogen the feminizing one.

I will refer to such distinct behavioral features as biologically stable. Those characteristics shown to be biologically stable must be understood and respected as such.

Attributes shown to be enviro-culturally inherited should be reviewed for their benefit to society and the individual.

The social merit or lack thereof will influence whether we choose to continue perpetuating questionable cultural traits or not. The enviro-cultural factor is both the natural environment (air, water, food quality) and the man-made environment (social setting, pollution, war). We are capable of affecting both kinds of environmental factors.

Western culture is grotesquely imbalanced towards the male perspective (brain) or strict and absolute male leadership.

Therefore, knowledge gleaned from the studies of male-female differences will go along way to help us structure a more balanced society starting with personal relationships and ending with international relations.

High divorces rates, domestic violence, gender issues and the constant conflict between nations are symptoms indicative of a systemic problem–gender imbalance or male domination.

Gender imbalance is most certainly a cultural matter and at the root of countless social ills. Gender imbalance is a clear and worthy target for vigorous $brain-fractal-2$ and expedient redress.

The rest of this article will focus on the gender differences attributable to differences in anatomical brain structure and their correlates with behavior.

. [Note: There are 3 other images like the one to the left. The images are actual representations of EEG brainwave activity when run through a special program. The images are courtesy of BrainPaint.com Click on the images to enlarge.]

[excerpt from Michael McCarthy article Scientific Proof – Women’s Brains ARE Different From Men’s - July 18, 2008 – source Independent UK}

Men and women show differences in behaviour because their brains are physically distinct organs, new research suggests. Male and female brains appear to be constructed from markedly different genetic blueprints.

The differences in the circuitry that wires them up and the chemicals that transmit messages inside them are so great as to point to the conclusion that there is not just one kind of human brain, but two, according to recent neurological studies

Increasingly, however, these assumptions are being challenged, according to a review of recent neurological research appearing in this week’s New Scientist magazine, and it is becoming clear that the brains of men and women show numerous anatomical differences.

Some of these divergences, the review by Hannah Hoag suggests, could explain a number of mysteries, such as why men and women are prone to different mental health problems, why some drugs work well for one sex but have little effect on the other, and why chronic pain tends to affect women more than men.

It is becoming clear that the relative sizes of many of the structures inside female brains are different from those of males.

One study, by scientists at Harvard Medical School, found that parts of the frontal lobe, which houses decision-making and problem-solving functions, were proportionally larger in women, as was the limbic cortex, which regulates emotions.

Other studies have found that the hippocampus, involved in short-term memory and spatial navigation, is also proportionally larger in women than in men – “perhaps surprisingly, given women’s reputation as bad map readers” says the New Scientist review.

Proportionally larger brain areas in men include the parietal cortex, which processes signals from the sensory organs and is involved in space perception, and the amygdala, which controls emotions and social and sexual behaviour.

“The mere fact that a structure is different in size suggests a difference in functional organisation,” says Dr Larry Cahill of the Centre for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, at the University of California, Irvine.

One area of research concerns the brain’s pain-suppressing mechanisms, and points to the fact that they may be organised differently in men and women. This would explain why women can suffer long-term pain more, and why there can be sex differences in response to opium-derived painkilling drugs.

The study notes: “Women get more relief from the opioid painkiller nalbuphine compared to men, whereas in men morphine is more effective and nalbuphine actually increases the pain intensity.” It is possible these findings could lead to new painkillers being developed that are tailored to be more effective in women – but that is some way off.

Photo credit. M. Nedergaard / University of Rochester. A false-color view of human brain tissue shows an astrocyte (green) reaching out to a blood vessel (yellow and red). The neurons (blue) are not in direct contact with the vessel and rely on astrocytes for the transport of nutrients of waste.

Mental health is another area where real brain differences may offer explanations. Women are diagnosed with depression twice as often as men, and this may be linked to relative levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin.

Boys, on the other hand, are more likely than girls to be diagnosed with autism, Tourette’s syndrome, dyslexia, attention-deficit disorder and early-onset schizophrenia. The review reports that Margaret McCarthy of the University of Maryland in Baltimore believes that hormone-like substances called prostaglandins, which help masculinise the male brain around the time of birth, may be partly to blame.

Drug abuse is a third area where brain differences may explain differences in behaviour. Men are almost twice as likely as women to use cocaine, for example, (possibly due to social factors). When women take it they get addicted more quickly and have a more severe habit when they seek treatment.

One of the reasons why physiological differences between male and female brains have not been widely noted before may be that most of what we know about the brain comes from studies of males, animals and human volunteers.

“If even a small proportion of what has been inferred from these studies does not apply to females, it means a huge body of research has been built on shaky foundations,” the review comments.

Professor Jeff Mogil from McGill University, in Montreal, Canada, who has demonstrated major differences in pain processing in males and females, puts it even more forcefully.

He is astonished that so many researchers have failed to include female animals in their studies. “It’s scandalous,” he said. “Women are the most common pain sufferers, and yet our model for basic pain research is the male rat.”

$brain-fractal-4$

A Guide to the Male and Female Control Panels

DECISION MAKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING:

Controlled by the frontal lobe, which is proportionally larger in women.

EMOTIONAL RESPONSE:

Controlled by the limbic cortex, which is also proportionally larger in women.

SPATIAL PERCEPTION:

Controlled by the parietal cortex , which regulates how we move around. Proportionally larger in men.

EMOTIONAL MEMORY:

Controlled by the amygdala, which is proportionally larger in men. When recalling an emotionally charged scene, men enlist its right side, women its left. Men remember the gist of the scene, and women the details.

SUPPRESSION OF PAIN:

Controlled by the periaqueductal grey, an area of grey matter in the mid-brain, known to have a role in the suppression of pain in men but perhaps not in women.

What the experts think about the research

Rosie Boycott, Founder of Spare Rib Magazine

There are real differences between men’s and women’s brains. In the 1970s, I saw feminist girlfriends bringing up children and religiously give the girl a truck to play with, and try to get the boy to like the colour pink. It never worked. Little girls and boys had very different ideas about what they wanted to play with and what colours they liked.

Oliver James, Psychologist

“It does not prove anything about the role of genes or environment. It is pure speculation. The size of different parts of the brain can be affected by childhood experiences. For example, a woman who was sexually abused as a child has, on average, 5 per cent less mass in her hippocampal region than a woman who was not sexually abused.”

nature-nurture-book First Mr. James flat out lies by stating that the studies are “pure speculation”.

In the first place the research was about anatomical brain differences and the authors of the study said nothing to exclude other factor that might also account for the differences.

He is correct to assert the important roles that genes and environment also play in human development and behavior. Aside from the example Mr. James gave, there are many other studies that demonstrate the effects of environment and genes on anatomical development and subsequent behavior.

The debate between nature versus nurture in human behavior and development has all but disappeared. The overwhelming evidence has shown that nature and nurture are inextricably intertwined.

There is, however, one very important distinction to be made when talking about the gene-environment relationship. The old school of thought said–genes are fixed–they specify everything thing about our biological constitution( temperament, cognitive capabilities etc). The other side would argue that nurture would have something to do with final outcomes. They were both right but not complete in their understanding of just how the gene-environment relationship worked.

They both assumed that the environment and genes worked independently of each other. Discoveries over that last 10 years have shown that genes turn on and off in response to environmental factors.

It’s one matter to know that we must factor genes and environment in order understand human behavior and development. It is an entirely different understanding when we realize that environmental elements can not only selectively turn genes on or off, but even modulate them (reduce or decrease output).

Color dyed brain cells and structures

A C Grayling, Philosopher

“This discovery does not affect just the difference between the sexes, but also different populations, and different ethnicities which have different propensities to illness and disease. For instance, we treat children differently from adults, so it’s not surprising that we might treat Europeans differently from Asians, men differently from women.”

Phillip Hodson, Psychotherapist

“This evidence could be used to reinforce stereotypes, and this is worrying. Humans need to be interchangeable – women need to be able to do the traditional male jobs and the same applies to men. Long-term relationships that work are ones where people are similar. I do not believe “men are from Mars and women are from Venus”. We are all from Earth.”

After the reading statements made by the psychotherapist and the psychologist is it still a wonder as to why psychology has had such a difficult time being accepted as a science. $brain-fractal-9$

The only thing women “need” to do–is to be women in accordance with their nature before it was infected with the kind of patrist non-sense that Hodson offers.

Judi James, Body language analyst: I’m not surprised by this new evidence. Research like this has been going on for years. However, I think instead of trying to categorise differences we should celebrate diversity and people’s individuality and their quirks, rather than looking at whether they are male or female. I find evidence like this tends to create stereotypes.

To the contrary. The type of research being discussed provides answers into what makes us who are or can become. This kind of knowledge can help us understand and appreciate our differences. Thus enabling us to break free of our well worn cultural straight jackets.

Natasha Walter, Feminist author

I think we have to be careful and not jump on small studies that show small differences and assume they’re going to remain significant. Obviously there are some physical differences between the brains of men and women, but these differences may not be innate and unchanging. They can be produced by our environment and circumstances.

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