Are there physical differences in the male and female brain? Are there gender differences in memory? If there are differences, do they begin as early as childhood or adolescence? As we age, and experience life, are men or women more superior in the recollection of memories? Even a novice in the study of gender and memory could presume that male and female’s brains are different, and they would presume correctly as evidenced by the results of many studies performed and the articles written to record the results of these studies. This literary review is comprised of five scholarly articles on the topic of the effects of gender on memory. The male versus female brains are different physiologically and psychologically.
The Effects of Gender on Memory
The Human Brain To understand the differences in memory pertaining to gender, one must first look the physical differences and similarities in the brains of men and women. This can be accomplished by using imaging procedures. These procedures can include functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In the article Evolving Knowledge of Sex Differences in Brain Structure, Function, and Chemistry (Cosgrove, 2007), the authors state that there are many similarities in the brain structure and function in men and women. The article also lists some important differences as well. One finding is that men have greater brain volume than
Gender differences have been recorded by researches from single neurons in the cell to system level processes (Cahill 2006), and certain scientists proposed that sex hormones influence the development of prefrontal cortex, and this is supposed to be the cause of the differences in working memory performance (Duff & Hampson, 2001). This study further investigated the existence and nature of this gender difference. A sample of 497 Monash University psychology undergraduates (385 females and 112 males; ages 18 – 64) were recruited for this study. Working memory performance was tested with online 'spatial working memory ' test, and 2D:4D finger length ratio was used as an indirect measure of sex hormone levels. The results revealed no sex differences in the working memory performance, but variance in 2D:4D ratio – females had a larger ratio than males. Memory reaction time was negatively correlated with 2D:4D ratio, thus, females had a quicker reaction time.
| Researchers have found that the female hippocampus tends to be larger than the male hippocampus. Based on evidence presented in the Critical Thinking box in the text, “ 'His ' and 'Her ' Brains?” you would be justified in asserting which of the following?1. Because of the differences in the size of the hippocampus, females will be
Assumptions about gender are embedded in scientific bias. In Cordelia Fine’s From Scanner to Sound Bite: Issues in Interpreting and Reporting Sex Differences in the Brain, the author examines four scientific issues that are overlooked about sex differences in the brain. She concludes that there are numerous misinterpretations of neuroimaging research that ultimately influence gender biases, and society should be cautious when reading these articles about sex differences.
In her scientific work Sex Differences in the Brain Kimura analysis several key differences that cause men and women to excel in various tasks and jobs due to naturally occurring phenomenon in the body and
2581). The questions of if and how gender plays a role in a person's STM capabilities and working memory is one that has been visited and revisited over time, but has generally yielded fairly consistent results: one sex does not dominate the other in terms of which has a more functional STM, rather, men and women maintain their own respective skills regarding different areas of STM ("Sex Differences in Memory"; Loftus et al. 82).
Existing studies have shown that females were more likely than males to correctly remember information, and also to do so slightly faster (Speck, Ernst, Braun et al, 2000). This experiment will further explore this disparity in male and female memory.
With the advancement in technology, neuroimaging has led to the discovery of male brains containing a greater amount of white matter, while female brains contain more gray matter (Gur et al., 1999). Sun et al. (2015) collected imaging data to track the progress of brain network topology over a five-year period and compared the results between gender differences. Participants in the study included 43 males ranging from ages 22-53, and 28 females from ages 21-59. Only those having no brain disorders, mental illnesses, substance abuse, or first-degree family members with mental illnesses were included in the research. Twenty-eight subjects completed the study and received scans over 5 years. The results supported findings from previous
Dr. Laura Allen has spent years studying the brain tissue of both boys and girls. She said, "As I began to look at the human brain more and more, I kept finding differences, and about 7 or 8 of the 10 structures that were actually measured turned out to be different between men and women" (Men, Women). Basically, it is best to always try to learn about human nature, that way we can educate people to prevent them from misusing the information. She claims, "knowledge we get is better, we can alter our education system for more equality" (Men, Women).
Memory is the faculty of the brain that stores information for later recall, it is the brain function that allows us as humans to learn and remember information. Brain function is prevalently influenced by gender in many aspects; contrasting performance between male and females in various memory tasks has been observed in numerous studies over time (Andreano & Cahill 2009). Men forgetting important dates such as birthdays or an anniversary and women not remembering their way to a certain place or address is a very stereotypical view of gender differences in memory (Hermann, Crawford & Holdsworth 1992). However, various studies have in fact shown there is a significant relationship between gender and the ability for one’s mind to store and remember information (Andreano & Cahill 2009). For example remembering certain experiences and specific events including memory of times, places and associated emotions, as well as visuospatial processing relating to the visual perception of spatial relationships among objects (e.g. remembering the way out of a maze) (Andreano & Cahill 2009). Researchers have discovered that women consistently excel in memory tasks requiring verbal episodic memory, whereas men typically outperform women in visuospatial, non-linguistic related tasks (Herlitz and Rehnman 2008). Some studies have also found that when both verbal and visuospatial processing is required differences result in the favour of women (Herlitz & Rehnman 2008). This topic will be
Looking at male and females we can see the noticeable physical differences between the two sex, but besides exterior differences, there are subtle but significant differences within the brain. Spasificly INAH3 which is called “third interstitial nucleus of the anterior hypothalamus” which is typically about two to three times larger
Medical researchers have been aware for a long time that the male and female brain is different in size. In 2001, researchers from Harvard found certain parts of the brain were differently sized in males and females; this may answer some of the questions about the difference in the male and female brain in regards to development and
Studies by Broca concluded that, on average, the brain of a women is one hundred and eighty one grams lighter than that of a man, or fourteen percent (Gould, 1978). However, not all researchers are convinced of these findings. Researcher Gould (1978) explains how Broca may not have allowed for variations in height, body shape or degeneration when comparing his measurements. However, Rushton (1997) counters that even Gould’s revision of Broca’s data indicates a difference in relative
The theory that males and females think and learn differently has come from a range of sources and ideas, including research on the brain. According to a 2007 longitudinal pediatric neuroimaging study led by a team of neuroscientists from the National Institute of Mental Health, various brain regions develop in a different sequence and tempo in girls compared with boys (NeuroImage, Vol. 36, No. 4). Using 829 brain scans gathered over two years from 387 subjects from 3 to 27 years old, researchers found several remarkable differences. The occipital lobe, for example — the one most associated with visual processing — shows rapid development in girls 6 to 10 years old, while boys show the largest growth in this region after 14 years old. Other studies have also shown disparities in language processing between the
Studies have also been carried out into whether or not there are differences between male and female brain size and whether this affects how we relate to each other in terms of gender. Simon Baron-Cohen believes that male brains are wired towards systematic understanding and females are wired towards empathy. In addition he says that this is not necessarily always the case but the majority are wired in this way: “Both sexes have their strengths and weaknesses. Neither sex is superior overall.” (Baron-Cohen, S. 2003).
Knowing the differences in the brain begins to give some understanding on how and why females and males learn differently. There are many basic differences in learning. Like stated previously females are better at verbal skills which makes them better at reading and writing and causes them to use words as they learn, and males are better