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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