Men's and women's brains found to be different sizes

Conclusion This study benefits from reportedly being one of the first to systematically search the global literature to identify published studies that have examined the differences in brain structure between men and women, and then combined these results in a meta-analysis. It finds evidence that men have a slightly larger overall brain volume than women, with a brain size around 8% to 13% greater. This may be a result of their larger general size. They also find differences between men and women in the volume of many different regions. These include differences in regions that have previously been associated with different mental health conditions, tentatively suggesting an unproven link between brain structure and gender related differences in risk of disease. Among the differences, men tended to have larger volumes in brain regions understood to be associated with survival instincts, memory and learning, while women tended to have larger volumes in areas of the brain dealing with emotions. This reinforces some commonly held gender stereotypes about the historical roles of men and women. However it would be simplistic to think other factors, such as social pressures and environment, do not also play a role in how each gender may tend to think and behave. The review also suggested there may be differences during different stages of our lives, for example as the brain develops during infancy and childhood. However, this is not possible to say for certain, given that very...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Mental health Neurology Source Type: news