The Open Anatomy Journal

2010, 2 : 37-55
Published online 2010 April 14. DOI: 10.2174/1877609401002010037
Publisher ID: TOANATJ-2-37

RESEARCH ARTICLE
 Gender Differences in Human Brain: A Review

Zeenat F Zaidi, *
Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

* Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, King Saud University, P.O. Box 22452, Riyadh 11495, Saudi Arabia; Tel: +966-1-4781995; Mobile: +966502151924; Fax: +966-1-4781995; E-mail: zeenatzaidi@hotmail.com

ABSTRACT

Why do men and women think differently? Why do they behave differently in stressed situations? Why do women act more emotionally as compared to men? Why do men and women excel at different types of tasks? Why do boys like to play with cars and trucks and superman? These are the common questions which arise commonly in minds.The human brain is a highly complex organ. Studies of perception, cognition, memory and neural functions have found apparent gender differences. These differences may be attributed to various genetic, hormonal, and environmental factors and do not reflect any overall superiority advantage to either sex. Both sexes are equal in intelligence, but tend to operate differently. Men and women appear to use different parts of the brain to encode memories, sense emotions, recognize faces, solve certain problems and make decisions. Indeed, when men and women of similar intelligence and aptitude perform equally well, their brains appear to go about it differently, as if nature had separate blueprints. Sex differences in the brain may play a role in learning processes, language development, and progression of neurologically-based diseases. Sex differences need to be considered in studying brain structure and function and may raise the possibility of sex-specific treatments for neurological diseases. In this article it is reviewed that how does the brain of a male look and function differently from a female's brain, and what accounts for these differences?

Keywords:

Human brain, gender differences, brain aging, neurological disorders, learning.