"Male brain" vs. "female brain"?

It is widely accepted that behavioral differences between males and females are associated with structural differences in the brain.  Gender stereotypes are so obvious in society and many are quick to develop pseudoscientific explanations, that women are more emotional because their limbic systems are larger, for example.   Some go as far as to distinguish between “female” and “male” brains.  But why are we comparing the brain to a reproductive organ when it is so much more than that?  Daphna Joel, head of the psychology program at Tel Aviv University’s School of Psychological Sciences and researcher at the Sagol School of Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University, asks this question everyday as she has devoted her research to exploring the physiological differences between the male and female brains – which, there turns out, aren’t many of. 

Joel, who began researching neural differences between genders several years ago, has made it her goal to better educate people on how little the brain varies between males and females.  After extensive meta-analysis, she has exposed the ambiguity and scandal in already published studies on how brains are wired differently.  She believes that these studies gain more attention because they appeal to the public more than those that provide more “boring” explanations.  In fact, she has had trouble even publishing articles about her suggested intersex brain.

“The editors wrote to me, saying that the subject of the article was not interesting to the public.  Just like that,” said Joel.  

                She believes that developmental differences between genders come from the way children are raised, not the way their brains are formed.  She asserts that male stereotypes such as aggressiveness are reinforced in young boys but discouraged in young girls.  Conversely, boys are discouraged from and showing emotion while similar behavior is excused in girls. 

               This is also the basis of the argument made by Lise Eliot in her book “Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow Into Troublesome Gaps – And What We Can Do About It”.  Eliot, a neuroscientist at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, argues that children are trained from birth to adhere to their gender stereotypes, resulting in the differences in personality and behavior that we associate to either males or females.  She believes that parents react differently to young boys than they would young girls, changing their environment in ways that have already been proven in neuroscience to affect the way genes are expressed which over time, could lead to significant cerebral differences.  But, she emphasizes that this refers to adult brains and that these differences are not seen from birth.  She suggests taking a more gender-neutral approach to parenting, hoping that this can close the gap between what is accepted and what is considered inappropriate within specific genders. With the field of neuroscience advancing so quickly, it is important to distinguish between legitimate scientific discoveries and public interest pseudoscience.  Hopefully, more like Joel and Eliot also realize this problem and can help better educate society on these important social issues.

 

Works Cited:

Eliot, Lise. Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow into Troublesome Gaps--and What We Can Do About It. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. Print.

Weissberg, Hila. "Fifty Shades of Grey Matter: Male vs. Female Brains." Haaretz.com. N.p., 27 Feb. 2014.

 

Nature vs. Nurture Debate: Should the Term "Hard-Wired" Be Used When Describing the Brain?

In Lise Eliot's book, Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow into Troublesome Gaps - and What We Can Do About It, she points out that there are little differences between male and female brains at infancy. However, as children begin to grow, differences develop in the brain. But why? Is it nature or nurture? Eliot points out as the older children become, and more differences arise in the female brain versus the male brain, it is harder to assume that these differences arise only from their genes and hormones. Their life experiences also play a role. Eliot goes on to say it is dangerous for neuroscientists to promote the idea that brains are hard-wired. Clearly, there are differences in behaviors amongst boys and girls, but Eliot believes experiences play a large role in creating these differences. Eliot also points out many of the differences found are actually not significant. However, in extreme cases, differences are seen, and that is what is placed in the public's eye. Plasticity is an area of research that is devoted to the understanding that the brain changes with regards to the experiences it undergoes. Eliot's research is based on the idea of plasticity. Her book was published in 2009.

Only two months ago, an article was published in the Wall Street Journal, saying that research is proving that differences in the female and male brain are hard-wired. This article was published four years after Eliot's book. Eliot would not approve of the title of this article, although she might agree with some aspects aligned in the article. This article emphasizes the importance of finding these differences before being able to understand them in regards to gender difference health issues. Ragini Verma, a biomedical analyst at the University of Pennsylvania, would agree with Eliot that little differences between the female and male brain are seen at young ages. Differences are seen once adolescence is reached. Verma focuses on the myriad connectivity in the brain. Although the title of the article is that brain differences is hardwired, the article does acknowledge that "the effects of diet, experience and biochemistry, neurons and synapses are ruthlessly pruned, starting in childhood." If this is the case, then Eliot would argue the brain is not hardwired. Instead, the brain holds plasticity. 

Although Eliot would have some issues with this article, interesting data has nonetheless been found. In 2011, a study performed at UCLA by Dr. Jahanshad found that there are "signficant" differences in the frontal lobe in the male and female brain. Eliot would question how significant the differences actually were. Dr. Verma from University of Pennsylvania has also found interesting findings. In these experiments, more connections between the hemispheres of the brain (left to right and right to left) were found in females' brains, whereas more connections within the hemispheres (back to front) were found in males' brains. Because of these connection differences, females could be thought to be "better wired" for analytical thought and multitasking whereas males could be thought to be "better wired" for single activities where they can place all their focus on one task. The article does point out that these assumptions are not proved and are rather speculations. The article also points out that other factors play a part in seeing gender differences in the brain, so it is important to be cautious when publishing results. However, being able to produce the same results is key. Neuroimaging allows to produce the same results even after taking different paths, which is important for significant data to be found.

As time goes on, many new research studies are carried out and new findings are published. However, the debate continues to question whether or not it is nature or nurture that brings out these differences in the male and female brain. Eliot would argue experiences largely effect brain differences and plasticity is important, which is why using the terms "hard-wired" and "fixed" is not appropriate. Although every neuroscientist is aware of the importance of plasticity, the terms are still used. It will be interesting to see the debate continue.

Works Cited

Eliot, Lise. Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow

         into Troublesome Gaps--and What We Can Do About It.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. Print.

Hotz, Robert L. "Differences in How Men and Women Think Are

Hard-Wired." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 9 Dec. 2013. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. 

URL to article: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304744304579248151866594232

More Similar than Different: The Impact of an Older Father on Both Genders

Is this baby girl more prone to anxiety because of her father's age?

            In a society working towards equality within gender, it can be tempting to acknowledge that both genders have individual strengths and areas of growth. But what happens when these areas of growth involve severe deficits in mental health. In Daniel Freeman's article, "Let's talk about the gender differences that really matter – in mental health", he reviews the well-known facts about discrepancies in occurrences in mental health issues between the sexes: "[I]n any given year rates of psychological disorders are 20-40% higher in women than men, with the discrepancy especially marked for common problems such as anxiety, depression and insomnia." In the very introduction of Pink Brain, Blue Brain, Lise Elliot also notes the statistic, as well as stating that "research on sex differences in the adult brain...may have important implications, especially for treating disease like depression, ADHD, Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, and drug addiction" (Elliot, 11). These differences in rates of mental illness are alarming, and obviously grow with maturation and exposure to hormones as "it's in the teenage years that girls overtake boys in rates of depression and anxiety" (Freeman). Elliot clearly notes, however, that "while hormones are clearly a factor in certain teen behaviors, they are not the whole story. Equally powerful are the social changes of adolescence, which stem from physical development" (Elliot, 291). If these differences in amounts of mental illness between the sexes are not innately because of hormonal differences during puberty, what is causing this discrepancy?

            Lise Elliot shows in her first chapter, Pink and Blue in the Womb, that there are only modest differences in the brains of male and female fetuses. Development may have small effects on wiring, but what if there was a reason before conception that the sweet little girl would be more likely to be depressed or that the bouncing baby boy would have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.  Normally, there is a focus on older mothers having higher instances of babies born with things such as Down’s syndrome, as well as development of the child being focused on how the mother interacts with the baby. Now, these female-emphasized roles have been biologically implicated in males. The Guardian very recently wrote the article “Children of older men at greater risk of mental illness, study suggests”, showing that children with older fathers [over the age of 45] children with older fathers were more often diagnosed with disorders such as autism, psychosis, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. They also reported more drug abuse and suicide attempts.” Furthermore, “[a]ccording to the study, the children of fathers aged 45 and over were 3.5 times as likely to have autism, had more than twice the risk of psychotic disorders, suicidal behaviour and drug abuse, and had a 13-fold greater risk of ADHD. Fewer than 1% of children born to fathers younger than 45 had bipolar disorder, a figure that rose to about 14% in their siblings when fathers were 45 or older. In many cases, the risk of each disorder rose steadily with the father's age. Children with older fathers had a 60% greater risk of poor performance at age 15, defined as the equivalent of an overall fail grade across 16 academic subjects. They were also 70% more likely to spend less than 10 years in formal education.” On top of differences of brain function through a difference in sex, there is now a further biological basis for why the daughter might have a higher risk of suicidal behavior while the son might be prone to ADHD. At this point, both mother and father could have the same impact biologically and developmentally on their child despite their inherent sexual differences. The father can affect the neurological basis for depression in his daughter, even though the mother is more prone to the disorder due to her sex. Regardless of whether these sexual differences are truly biological or due to nurture, parents will affect their children’s brain structure and function  

Citations

Elliot, Lise. Pink Brain, Blue Brain. N.p.: Macmillan Australia, 2010. Print.

 

Freeman, Daniel, and Jason Freeman. "Let's Talk about the Gender Differences That Really Matter – in Mental Health." Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 13 Dec. 2013. Web.

Sample, Ian. "Children of Older Men at Greater Risk of Mental Illness, Study Suggests." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 26 Feb. 2014. Web. 

“No, You Can’t Play With That”: Toys and Gender Stereotyping

“No, You Can’t Play With That”: Toys and Gender Stereotyping

In the modern world, a person can observe young boys and girls playing with distinctly different toys, with girls tending to play with dolls and boys tending to play with cars. A common belief is that toys in early childhood condition the mind for later on in life, and subtly reinforce gender stereotypes between boys and girls which continue well into adult life.  Lise Eliot’s book, Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow into Troublesome Gaps - and What We Can Do About It, demystifies perceived differences between the two genders. A major component of her novel’s claim is that the external environment increases small differences between genders, including exposure to different toys at a young age and societal reactions to children playing with those toys. Along the lines of Eliot’s argument, Elizabeth Sweet has observed differences in how toys are marketed for boys and girls.

Elizabeth Sweet, a Doctoral candidate UC-Davis, studied the obvious segregation of toys in stores. Similar to the title of Eliot’s book, Sweet noticed that pink aisles presented images of “beauty and domesticity,” while blue aisles contained toys conveying “building, action, and aggression.”  Contrary to belief, Sweet discovered that the toy industry possessed an unexpected advertisement trend during the 20th century. According to Sweet, gender played little to no role in toy advertising up until the World War II era. However, by the 1970s, the disparity in advertising seemed to nearly disappear, showing girls playing with airplanes and boys playing in model kitchens. The gender divide soon reappeared around 1995, with few unisex toys being marketed at young children; this marketing tactic reappeared in order to sell more toys to one group since this is an easier tactic.

Marketing at distinct genders taps into cultural beliefs; many parents hold the belief that there are distinct differences between boys and girls, which can be seen in their toy preferences. Homophobia also plays a major factor, since parents do not want to risk having their children ostracized. Culture then continues to reinforce gender stereotypes, as few people want to step out of  According to Sweet, companies like Lego have tried to pair supposed preferences for toys with supposed biological differences between boys and girls; this is troublesome, since social behavior is very difficult to inference from biological observations.

One of Dr. Eliot’s most important rules for parents it to “Watch out for Stereotyping” (page 102), allowing the parents to cater to the needs of their children independent of their gender, and in turn allowing their children to reach their full potential. Further on in her book, Lise Eliot comments that children do have tendencies to play with a certain toy, but these preferences are increased by outside forces, like parental involvement. Eliot concludes that children are naturally swayed towards certain things, but social factors could also play a big part, such as parents’ subtle reactions to how children play with toys seen as acceptable or unacceptable for their gender. Eliot comments that girls can be “more flexible” than boys due to outside reactions from parents and other individuals (page 110).

Eliot believes in maximizing children’s potential, and the advertisement of toys to specific genders result in the stereotypes she sees in adults. Eliot believes in differences between boys and girls, and the advertisement is marketed to increase these differences. However, Eliot’s aim is to raise children so as to develop them to be as well-rounded as possible, rather than playing up differences between boys and girls. Eliot does not seek to make boys and girls the same; rather, she sees deficiencies, encouraged by advertising and cultural training, which limits kids’ potentials.

Advertising was made by people, and can be seen as a type of encouragement when children play with their toys. While boys and girls have natural differences, societal reactions and encouragement push them to develop certain gender norms. Sweet cites advertising of toys as one major source of changing people’s beliefs about proper behavior for the two genders, and Eliot sees the negative effect that such encouragement can have on children. Perhaps, the importance with children is not to encourage them as gendered individuals, but rather as people, allowing them to reach their full potential outside the limits of our world’s gender roles, and react positively no matter what they play with.

Works Cited

Eliot, Lise. Pink brain, blue brain: how small differences grow into troublesome gaps--and what we can do about it. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. Print.

Sweet, Elizabeth. "Guys and Dolls No More?." The New York Times. The New York Times, 22 Dec. 2012. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/opinion/sunday/gender-based-toy-marketing-returns.html>.

Prenatal Scanning

Widespread use of ultrasound technology has given couples the chance to find out the gender of their child during pregnancy. For many couples, this is an exciting time. They may show no preference for whether their child is a boy or girl and will provide the necessary care for their growth and development. For others, it is the moment that they decide whether to abort the pregnancy or not.

It is common in countries, such as China, to employ gender selection to ensure the birth of a son rather than a daughter. According to Erik Eckholm, author of The New York Times article Desire for Sons Drives Use of Prenatal Scans in China, recent studies and data have shown that villagers in China are utilizing prenatal scans followed by abortion for unwanted daughters. In the last decade, China had “the largest gender disparity among newborns” (Eckholm). During this time of economic growth, the gap between male and female births had become larger.

So what is so great about boys? The perspective varies throughout cultures, but the general belief is that men can work harder to provide for their families while although woman can also perform these tasks, are “not as good” as men. In China, there is a dependence on boys to preform the labor-intensive work of farming in rural villages of the countryside. Eckholm also states that because of the strict family planning limits in these regions, rural areas involve fines for bearing more than one or two children. Knowing this, we can understand the perspective of a rural Chinese family wanting to give birth to a boy rather than a girl. Not because they wouldn’t express affection to a daughter, but because a son is more valuable for their survival.

Learning about the sex of a fetus has become easier for the country because of the availability of ultrasound scanners. Small-town hospitals will perform ultrasound tests without any questions asked for a small fee. By 2000, the disparity in births had grown to 117 boys for every 100 girls (Eckholm).  From this, we can begin to understand that this had become a culturally accepted norm. It is easy for people of other cultures to judge such actions. In the US, abortion is a very sensitive topic and raises many issues culturally and politically. Lise Eliot, author of Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow into Troublesome Gaps- and What We Can Do About It, also discusses this topic. In her book, she states that modern technology has made it increasingly possible to control this fate, as demonstrated in many Asian countries (Eliot, 24). Her data illustrates that Chinese, Korean, and Indian nationalities in the US also demonstrate this trend in higher male births than female in comparison to white Americans.

             To many Americans, these actions may seem wrong. However, it is critical to take into account that we are from varying cultures. The average working American man is not required to perform physical labor in fields to provide food for his family. This is a different story for men of rural villages in the Chinese countryside. From this, we must take into account all the factors that drive a couple to decide whether to continue with a pregnancy or to abort it.

References

Eckholm, Erik. "Desire for Sons Drives Use of Prenatal Scans in China." The New York Times. N.p., 21 June 2002. Web. 28 Feb. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/21/international/asia/21CHIN.html?action=click&module=Search®ion=searchResults%230&version=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26region%3DMasthead%26pgtype%3DSectionFront%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26contentCollection%3Dscience%26t%3Dqry627%23%2Fprenatal%2Bsex%2Bdetermination%2F>.

Eliot, Lise. “Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow Into Troublesome Gaps and What We Can Do About It.” New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. 2009. Print

Single-Sex Schools: Effective or Exaggerated?

Earlier this month, The Washington Post published an article about single-gender classrooms. At G. James Gholson Middle School in Maryland, lessons are being taught separately to males and females in an effort to facilitate learning. Many advocates for this learning environment argue that it becomes easier for males and females to concentrate if they are not surrounded the opposite gender. Additionally, it’s been argued that girls tend to dumb themselves down around boys, and therefore, separating the genders allows females to thrive at school because those gender stereotypes can be broken down. This all sounds convincing, and it is convincing, until you find out that there is no research to support this claim.

In her book Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow into Troublesome Gaps, professor Lise Eliot comments on a number of research studies that have been conducted around the globe on the effectiveness of single-sex schools, and there has been no significant findings to support the claim that these schools are superior to coed schools. What most people are not taking into account is that most of the single-sex schools around the country are also more elite and generally private with more funding. The effectiveness of these schools is not necessarily related to their single-sex structure. In fact, studies have confirmed that differences in performance between single-sex and coed schools disappear when the data is adjusted to account for preexisting differences between the students. Single-sex schools have been found to both be more selective in the students they admit (with most students having higher-educated families) and offer better facilities and resources. Thus, the sex segregation is not the cause for the increase in performance among these students. Furthermore, opponents to single-gender learning argue that this environment does not adequately prepare students for the real, coed world.

However, this does not mean that there isn’t something to be learned from single-gender schools. Focus needs to be put on the aspects of these schools that are, in fact, contributing to an increase in student test scores. We need to change the culture in our schools so that achievement is held in the highest esteem. While single-gender schools may be placing too much emphasis on the wrong thing, they are on the right track in many other aspects. We just need to identify the characteristics that are truly having an effect on student success so that all schools can capitalize on them.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/boys-and-girls-learn-separately-at-prince-georges-school/2014/02/10/8e242ec2-8eac-11e3-b46a-5a3d0d2130da_story.html

Why is Autism More Common in Males?

The author of this article believes that childhood testosterone is the cause of autism. The separation between male and female occurs because of an X chromosome instead of a Y and because of this there occurs a series of mutations. The research concluded that females had a larger amount of neurodevelopmental disorders and due to this, the females function a good deal better than males due to similar mutations affecting brain development.

Because of this research, there is a better conclusive nature for the development of more sensitive, genetic-specific approaches for the way researchers screen neurodevelopmental disorders. There’s a good deal of scrutiny that comes with the belief that more males develop autism rather than females developing the disorder. This is due to their respective attitudes when at a young age.