Essay --

Gender Differences and the Brain Brandon Moore LTCY 199 November 21, 2013 As we all know the brain is one of the most amazing mysteries in the world; there is a lot to be discovered. This topic hits home for me because most of my life I have always wanted to know how is the brain any different between men and women. From the very beginning of life boys and girls are already different. The common topic of discussion is which gender’s brain matures faster. People often hear that girls mature much faster than boys. In fact this is not true; the genders don’t really play a part in the maturation process, because it is all about what you are exposed to in life. Although research has shown girls to have way more verbal skills through the preschool stages, but it then declines drastically around age seven . Girls have also been proven to do better than boys in reading and writing all the way through high school. Most of these studies were done in co-ed schools. Studies have shown that single gender schools are more helpful for both genders. The statistics were basically the same from these types of schools. I do think your brain matures faster based of the things you are exposed to. When these say research was done globally, the statistics varied, some siding with girls and some in favor with boys. So this proves, that there is a real gender difference, but there is not a proven gender maturation rate in the brain. Self-esteem is another big gender difference. It ties in with topics like emotions, coping, depression, and behavior. All through adolescence boys have been shown to have a greater self-esteem than girls. This means guys are less likely to become depressed over something. Research done by Reiko Miyamoto and Yoshiaki Kiku... ..., Szatkowskal, l., & Baron, J. (2012). Sex, Lies and fMRI Gender Differences in Neural Basis of Deception. Plos ONE, 7(8), 1-11. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0043076 Farace, E., & Alves, W. M. (2000). Do women fare worse: a metaanalysis of gender differences in traumatic brain injury outcome. Journal of Neurosurgery, 93(4), 539-545. Xu, J., Kobayashi, S., Yamaguchi, S., Iijima, K. I., Okada, K., & Yamashita, K. (2000). Gender effects on age-related changes in brain structure. American Journal of Neuroradiology, 21(1), 112-118. Schulte-RÃ ¼ther, M., Markowitsch, H. J., Shah, N. J., Fink, G. R., & Piefke, M. (2008). Gender differences in brain networks supporting empathy. Neuroimage, 42(1), 393-403. Eccles, J. S., & Harold, R. D. (1991). Gender differences in sport involvement: Applying the Eccles' expectancy-value model. Journal of applied sport psychology, 3(1), 7-35.