Do males and females have different brains?

Do males and females have different brains? If there

are differences what is their functional significance?
Name:
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psychology A

Michael Smith.
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Bachelor of Arts (PSYCH).

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Do males and females have different brains?

Abstract
Ask anybody whether they believe there are differences
between male and female brains and most will say yes,
but are there differences that can be measured
scientifically? In exploration of gender specific physiology,
chemistry and cognitive abilities it becomes apparent that
there are differences and that these differences have
significant functionality, which affects each of the genders
in differing ways. Determining differences is a difficult task
because many of these cognitive abilities are difficult to
properly isolate in experiments and it is also difficult to
determine just how much a person is affected by genetics
and chemistry. However, it can be stated that there is no
doubt there are differences, and the reasons for these
differences can be linked back to our time as huntergatherers. The outcomes of these differences affect what it
means to be a man or a woman, and the skill set which we
have to face life.

Do males and females have different brains?

Do males and females have different brains? If there

are differences what is their functional significance?
Scientists are beginning to discover that sex differences are
not just the physical differences that we have, there are
also distinctions in cognition that correlate to physiological
variances in the structure and associated areas of the brain,
and that hormones play a key part in the growth of the
male and female brain throughout life, alongside social
roles, experience and stereotypes synonymous with gender.
Although the male and female brain is almost anatomically
identical there are marked differences in cognitive abilities
that are apparent, and therefore it can be stated, there are
differences between the male and female brain, the
evidence herein points to a functional significance that is
rooted in differing chemistry between genders. In
exploration of this statement, firstly a look is taken into
what physiological differences there are and how they
might affect cognition. Following this, an investigation of
cognitive and problem-solving abilities is used to display
apparent differences between genders. Lastly, the
outcomes of differences between the genders are explored,
along with how they affect us and define us as male or
female.

Do males and females have different brains?

The brain is bilaterally symmetrical consisting of two

halves called hemispheres that are connected by the
corpus callosum, and many other structures that are shared
by both genders, on the whole male and female brains are
difficult to tell apart visually. However, there are many
differences that are evident when taking chemistry, and
development of certain areas into account.
Brain development begins in the prenatal period at
the same time as genital formation and is largely linked to
hormone levels. There are significant differences in
prenatal hormones for males and females. Testosterone is
10 times higher in males than in females, whilst oestrogen
levels are a significant factor in the development of the
female brain. (Halpern, 2000). There is overwhelming proof
that these hormones initiate, and continue to play a
significant role in brain dimorphism throughout life.
The rate of brain development at the critical stage
between birth and approximately 2 years of age is closely
linked to hormone levels, which are at their highest during
this stage. These hormones follow the ebb and flow of
growth throughout childhood, (Halpern, 2000).
The most significant region of the brain where
differences between the sexes occur is in the
hypothalamus. This dimorphic change takes place at
puberty when the enlargement of the preoptic region of the

Do males and females have different brains?

hypothalamus occurs in males, and a difference is visible to

the naked eye. This structure relates to autonomic nervous
system regulation and is also linked to sexual orientation.
The corpus callosum and anterior commissure are areas
that differ in shape between the genders and which,
therefore, may be changed by the presence of sex
hormones, (McEwan 2009). Interestingly the corpus
callosum is the structure that links the hemispheres
together, and the splenium in females tends to be larger
(Pramila Padmini & Narasinga Rao, 2012), and may possibly
have a greater amount of connections, (Janowsky, 1989).
Lenroot & Giedd (2010) have found that certain
regions of the brain that contain large numbers of sex
steroid receptors are more sexually dimorphic, meaning
that certain regions are more active depending on what
hormone is more prevalent, either testosterone, oestrogen
or androgens. Similarly, Goldstein et al. (2001), discovered
that due to high numbers of sexual steroid receptors the
frontal and medial Para limbic regions are thicker in women,
therefore possibly explaining a heightened grasp with
emotional experiences, whilst frontomedial cortex,
hypothalamus and amygdala were larger in men. The
frontomedial cortex is believed to be related to social
cognition and working memory (Amodio & Firth, 2006), and

Do males and females have different brains?

the hypothalamus with olfactory senses and more

importantly for men steroid production, and the amygdala
with storage of emotional memories.
Another considerable difference physiologically is that
male brains are between 10 to 15% bigger and heavier
than female brains, however, Davison Ankney (1992) points
out that this could be related to an unknown effect in body
size differences or that womens brains work with greater
efficiency, however he disregards these points and believes
the differences relate to abilities in which men excel, such
as spatial and mathematical problem solving abilities.

When comparing the cognitive abilities of men and

women, many differences are apparent. Differences in men
and women are sighted in the areas of perceptual ability,
motor skills, memory, verbal abilities, visual-spatial abilities
and quantitative abilities (Halpern 2000).
In the area of perception, Kimura (1999) points out
that adult women tend to have greater ability in recognizing
the four basic elements of taste than men, and are also
more sensitive to most smells than men. These abilities
vary according to the menstrual cycle or pregnancy,
suggesting that cognition is affected by varying hormone

Do males and females have different brains?

levels.
Numerous studies have been completed on
differences in fine motor skills, and the evidence finds that
females appear to have a greater ability in this area
(Halpern, 2000). In an experiment involving fine motor skills
and mirror tracing undertaken by OBoyle, Hoff, & Gill,
(1995), the results confirmed that women are more capable
than men in the fine motor skills area.
Because there are many types of memory, it is
difficult to create one single test to cover the area.
However, Stumpf and Jackson (1994) devised and
evaluated a battery of tests designed to look at individual
areas of memory, they found that women were over half a
standard deviation unit (d=0.56) better than men in these
memory exercises.
It would seem from the evidence that another area
that women appear to have the advantage over men is
verbal ability. Verbal ability contains skills in word fluency,
grammar, spelling, reading, writing, verbal analogies,
vocabulary, and oral comprehension (Halpern, 2000). Word
or verbal fluency is a particular area in which women
appear to excel. However, there are many areas within
verbal abilities where men perform with equal ability, for
example, vocabulary and verbal intelligence (Kimura,

Do males and females have different brains?

1999).
In the area of visual-spatial skills it appears that men
are more adept than women. Richardson (1991) states that
males use mental imagery more often to find solutions to
problems involving moving objects. Also in experiments
that investigated route knowledge, men in general needed
less attempts at reading a map to complete a set route with
less errors committed than a similar group of females
(Galea & Kimura, 1993). However, females show and
advantage over men in regards to memory of locations and
recall more landmarks than men (Eals & Silverman, 1994).
The area of quantitative abilities also seems to fall in
favour of men. Plake, Loyd, and Hoover (1981) encapsulate
the data of gender related differences in quantitative skills
with the statement There is little doubt that females score
differently from males on mathematical tests. However,
Stones, Beckman, and Stephens (1982) found in their
research that females tend to score better at tests involving
mathematical sentences and reasoning. Yet it is a wellestablished fact that there is a disparity regarding females
in careers where a high level of mathematical skill is
involved (Sells, 1980)

Do males and females have different brains?

So what does all this information mean and what are

the outcomes of the differences between the sexes. Firstly,
the differences between men and women in regards to
hormones could not be more obvious, and it appears as
though these hormonal differences affect and strengthen
different areas of the brain. Females are consistently
affected by sex hormones that produce expected results in
cognitive abilities, whilst experiments show that androgens
and testosterone have consistent effects on areas of the
brain related to spatial ability and mathematical ability
(Kimura, 1999). According to Baron-Cohen (2005) the
female brain is hardwired for empathizing, he also goes on
to state that the male brain is genetically hardwired for
systemizing, citing the study of rats injected with
testosterone and the observable affects it has on behaviour.
So it would seem that males and females have
differing skill sets, this is evident when looking at cognitive
abilities regarding visual-spatial ability, mathematical
reasoning, verbal memory and fine motor skills, the
outcome being definitive skills for both genders, however
this does not mean that one gender is superior over
another, or that a skill set is limited to one gender only
(Kimura 1987). Not surprisingly there is evidence to suggest
that these differing abilities may well be related to our

Do males and females have different brains?

10

hunter gatherer days, where it was an advantage to men to

be able to find their way through unexplored terrain and
hunt game (visual-Spatial ability), and the landmark
navigational strategy used to find and gather items used by
women. (Silverman, Choi, & Peters, 2007) However, these
roles have become blurred in modern day society, even
though we may still be genetically hard wired to succeed in
different areas of cognitive ability.
In Conclusion upon looking at the physiology,
chemistry and cognitive abilities of male and female brains
it is evident that there are many apparent differences,
because the chemistry and genetics of each individual is
varied it is difficult to ascertain exactly what determines the
cognitive abilities that can be found, but this is not to say
that in general there are variances in the cognitive
capacities of men and women and the significance of those
capacities is more than likely rooted in our past as huntergatherers. Science is advancing more each day and it
beginning to provide the scientific answers to what most of
us have suspected all along, that men and women do have
different brains.

Do males and females have different brains?

11

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