Gender and the Brain

Monique Canonico DO

Assistant Clinical Professor

John A. Burns School of Medicine

University of Hawaii

Feb 2013

Overview

• Prefrontal cortex

• “pruning”

• Gender differences in anatomy

• Gender differences in neurochemistry

• Gender differences in learning

• How to maximize learning potential in

your daughter or son

The Latest Brain Research

• The prefrontal cortex

• pruning

At the time of puberty…

• A massive pruning of brain

connections occurs

• usually between age 12 and 16.5

The Pruning (cont.)

• The synaptic pruning represents the

huge transformation of the

adolescent brain.

• Many neurons and the connections

between them are cut, leading to

improved efficiency

The Pruning (cont..)

• 2009:Researchers at UC Davis study brain waves of 67

Adolescents

• Delta waves occur in the deepest part of non REM sleep

• It is believed that the nonREM sleep is the recuperative

phase of sleep, in which the parts of the brain (that are

more active during waking), “recuperate”

• There was a 60 % drop in delta waves

Adolescents’ brains undergo a substantial “pruning” or reduction in gray matter volume during adolescence, which happens about two years earlier in girls, compared to boys.

History of Gender Research

• 1960s~focus on gender bias against females in

schools

• 1970s and 80s~research focused on how career

expectations were still along gender lines

• 1990 on~research is on the underperformances

of boys in the school system

Boys: The History, the Present, and Why TCS is on Track

• Boys would learn skills etc from

relativethese boys then found

themselves in boxlike classroom

• For most boys in public schools gone

were the classic academic models of

verbal debate between young thinkers

Brain Cells Communicate Through Neurochemicals

• Many differences between male and

female

How We Learn: Synapses -Learning mainly occurs at the synapses-A synapses performance changes when we learn something new-long-term potentiation

How We Learn (cont.)

-memory and recall strengthened by frequency and recency-seeing and hearing something is better than just seeing or just hearing-engage multiple senses through humor, storytelling, physical activity, emotion

DifferencesBOYS

• Have less serotonin

• Need reality checks to

make them reassess

and to be challenged

• Prefer nonfiction

GIRLS

• Have more serotonin

• Need encouragement

to build them up.

• Prefer fiction

23

Learning DifferencesSome male learning characteristics are

• More areas in the brain for spatial reasoning

• . Male brain enters a rest state several times a day. Often during

these rest states in order to stay alert boys may fidget or act out.

• Are seen as more aggressive and impulsive than girls

• Engage in “aggression nurturance” or rough housing and insults

with other males

• Take more time than girls to transition between activities and/or

topics

• Feel less compelled to comply with the orders of teachers

Biology • Using PET and MRI we are learning better ways to teach

boys and girls

• Boys have more dopamine (which increases impulsive

behavior)

• Boys have more blood flow to the cerebellum

• Girls have stronger connections in their temporal lobes

and more oxytocin and estrogen(these chemicals have a

direct affect on words)

• Overall girls have 15% more blood flow to the brain

25

Learning Differences

• A study done by Pomerantz, Alterman and Saxon

(2002) stated that girls will feel that they are

disappointing a parent and/or teacher. Girls place

more emphasis on pleasing others.

• Girls are more critical of their performance in

school even though it has been reported that they

do very well in academics. Boys seem to

overestimate their ability to achieve.

The EyeMALES FEMALES

-sense movement-drawn to black, blue silver

-faces-red, yellow, orange-to engage girls, work in smallcircles facing eachother

Gender Differences in Psychiatric Disorders

MALES

• Schizophrenia

• Antisocial behavior

• Alcoholics

• Drug addiction

FEMALES

• Depression 2:1

• Anxiety

• Anorexics

Brain Under StressMALES

• Withdraw

• Don’t recall details

FEMALES

• Nurture children

• Remember details

vividly

The right brain remembers the gist of the experience and the left brain recalls the details.

Communication

• Womens’ hemispheres have a thicker

connection

• Women use both hemispheres when

speaking. Males use primarily one

Negotiating StatusBOYS

• By elementary schools

boys start to use verbal

skills ; to find their

status in a large group

• High status males give

orders

• Independent behavior:

prized

GIRLS

• Different strategy to

maintain their hierarchy

• Girls talk/ secrets/

reach consensus of who

is in charge

• More indirect otherwise

labeled “bossy”

Data in the Classroom

• Facts: boys and girls process emotions

differently

• Girls may excel at language

• Boys may excel at math/science

• Close performance gapsingle gender

classes ?

• By adolescence, a girl’s corpus callosum is 25 percent larger than a boy’s.

The corpus callosum is the bundle of nerves that sends signals across the two

parts of the brain. This enables more “cross talk” between hemispheres.

• Girls have fewer attention span problems and can make faster transitions

between lessons.

• Girls’ prefrontal cortex develops earlier and is larger than boys’.

• Girls have more serotonin and make fewer impulsive decisions than boys.

Autonomic Nervous System

Autonomic Nervous SystemBOYS

• More alert standing,

moving

• Best at rm temp 69

degrees

• Stress increases blood

flow to the brain and

helps boys stay

focused

GIRLS

• More alert when

seated

• Best at rm temp 75

degrees

• Stress increases blood

flow to gut

Blood flow at rest state

40

Conclusion

It is obvious that there are several differences in female and male students. It does seem that a solution would be to separate the genders in order to individualize the classroom environment.

Boys:

• Get the majority of Ds and Fs in most schools

• Make up 70% of the discipline problems

• Are ~ 1 yr to 1.5 yrs behind girls in

reading/writing, according to the US Dept of

Education

• Over 80% of schoolchildren

on Ritalin (or similar) are boys

Parents

• Be cognizant of your child’s strengths and

weaknesses

• Read brain based literature

• Help child balance sedentary pursuits with active

• Encourage child to stick with certain courses

even if it’s not their strong one

• Encourage child to take risks/challenges

To Encourage Girls

• Form working groups to promote negotiating skills and

leadership

• Verbally encourage the hidden high energy of “quiet

girls”

• Manipulatives to teach math

• Don’t assume they not are interested in technical stuff

• Call on both and girls equally

• High expectations

• Reject stereotypes

Girls: Middle School• Spend 30% more more time studying

than boys; don’t necessarily learn

more

• Self esteem may decline

• May feel not as good science/math

• Parents’ goal: select proper

academic path

Girls: Middle School• Relationships become so important;

don’t cringe at the melodrama

NORMAL

• girls are used to be being praised for

their compliance but need to be

praised for their independence of

thought

Talk it through. When your daughter gets stuck on her homework, she may benefit from discussing the problem and various approaches to solving it. Or she can write you an email describing her struggle to solve the problem.

To Encourage Boys

• Let boys nurture each other with healthy

aggression

• Make lessons kinesthetic

• Recognize and accept the high energy level

of boys

• Allow opportunities for competition

• Incorporate technology

To Encourage Boys

• Higher testosterone leads boys to seek

COMPETITION

• -worksheet? “beat the clock” with kitchen

timer

• -football/basketballlearn math facts

• Spelling words? Have him in a physical

position while thinking

To Encourage Boys

• Give them soft objects to squeeze in

their hand constantly (not

disruptively) to ward off the rest

state

Practical Suggestions

• Vision trumps all senses

• Humans learn best through pictures not

written or spoken words

• Using a white board to study may help

• Teachers could use computer animations

Practical Suggestions (cont.)

• “temporal contiguity principle”-

students learn better when

presented items simultaneously

rather than successively

Prefrontal cortex

Decision

making

Complex

cognition

Personality

Expression

Suggestions (cont.)

• Exercise boosts brain power

• Limit screen time

• Get enough sleep

• Is your child getting enough water and protein?

• Chess

• To help with math bank account/responsible

for their own $

Suggestions (cont.)

• Quizlet.com

• Let the boys and girls who need it move

around the classroom while reading,

learning or doing computer. At Gurian

institute pilot schools: physical movement

is a universal strategy to help less

motivated students

Review

• Prefrontal cortex

Prefrontal cortex

Decision

making

Complex

cognition

Personality

expression

Review (cont.)

• Pruning

• Boys: more intense rest state-->part

of his brain shuts down

• Girls: compliance is great

encourage independent thought

• Create a culture where

gender differences are

celebrated and noted

A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge. -Thomas Carlyle

Bibliography

• Gurian,M., The Minds of Boys. San Francisco: Jossy-Bass,

2005.

• Gurian, M., Girls and Boys Learn Differently. Wiley.2000.

• Gurian,M., The Wonder of Girls. New York. 2003.

• Kalat, J., Developmental Psychology.

• Medina J., Brain Rules . Seattle: Pear Press, 2008.

• Sanes, D., Development of the Nervous System

Further investigation

• http://www.sharpbrains.com/ (brain

innovation research)

• www.ted.com Sarah-Jayne

Blakemore: The mysterious workings

of the adolescent brain