Lingua inglese - gender differences

Gender differences in human brain

Men vs women

Margherita Di Somma MAT. 4312201343

Dame Margaret Thatcher, a former prime minister of the United Kingdom, has been (famously) quoted as saying: “If you want something said, ask a man…if you want something done, ask a woman.” This suggests, perhaps, that men and women process information differently. This exercise asks you to take up the controversial question: Are there gender differences in the brain having to do with how man and woman process and use language? You might begin your research by seeking answers (try the Internet) to questions about the incidence of SLI (Specific Language Impairment), dyslexia, and language development differences in boys versus girls.

Abstract

Why do men and women act differently? The answer is to be found in one of the most complex and heterogeneous organs of human beings: the brain. Indeed, years of studying have confirmed that various factors, such as the genetic, hormonal and environmental ones, enhance gender differences. These play a key role in the learning process, in the cognitive development and also in the diagnosis of several neurological disorders of the given specimen.

Key words: Gender Differences, neurological disorders, language processes, language development

Anatomical differences

Physical characteristics: grey matter vs white matter

Variations in the amount of white and grey matter in the brain are important. In fact, men have around 6 times more grey matter in the brain than women, and women have about 10 times more white matter than men do. Therefore, men have more grey matter, which is made up of active neurons, and women have more white matter responsible for communication between different areas of the brain.

Thinking and emotions

Men hardly express their feelings because of their use of the right hemisphere only. The male brain separates language, in the left, and emotions, in the right, while the females’ emotions are placed in both hemispheres. This helps us to explain why the male brain has a hard time expressing its feelings. Furthermore, men seem to think with their grey matter, while women think with the white one, so men and women differ in approaching different sections of the brain for the same tasks.

Causes

Sex hormones

Hormones have a very important role in the sexual differentiation of the brain. Studies have shown that estrogen plays an active role in differentiation of the female brain, while it is known that estradiol not testosterone is responsible for the masculinization of the brain. However, sex hormones are crucial for many sex differences, but, equally, cannot explain all observed sex differences.

Learning and language

Sex differences in functional brain organization related to language have been identified. Researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Haifa show that areas of the brain associated with language work harder in girls than in boys during language tasks, and that boys and girls depend on different parts of the brain when performing these tasks. Sex differences are also present in semantic processing, which involve memory and word meaning. In a recent study of semantic retrieval tasks, men showed greater left frontal brain activation than women. Overall, this study shows how the cerebral network involved in semantic processing is significantly affected by sex and sex steroid hormones.