Brainy / Friday, January 4, 2008
| What we are, how we behave, how we think and feel, is governed not by the heart, but by the brain. The brain itself is influenced, in structure and operation, by the hormones. If brain structure and hormones are different in men and women, it should not surprise us that men and women behave in different ways. Understanding the exact relationship between brain structure, hormones and behaviour would take us a long way to discovering the answer to some of humanity's most exasperating riddles. | ” |
In this chapter, the results regarding a two-fold operation of hormones in humans are presented. This is described as an initial morphological influence on the brain during gestation, followed by an "activation" stage at puberty. In other words, hormones have been discovered to be instrumental in shaping initial brain structure, later they stimulate features of these dimorphic brain structures. Hormone activity is not strictly limited to puberty nor to solely reproductive functions.
Brain dimorphism, as observably distinct and complicated as it is, theoretically could be of as little significance for behaviour as, for example, eye-colour. So additional material regarding correlations between brain structure and behaviour is actually the main feature of this chapter. Initial studies in this area came from observing people who had suffered brain damage. Correlations between which behavioural functions showed impairment and which regions of the brain showed damage led to early results regarding left and right brain hemisphere activity.[16] Although knowledge of this area is still far from complete, a great deal of refinement has been made possible with brain imaging technology and investment in research projects into human brain function.
One simplification of the results is that female brains (the result of default or "normal" developmental pathways) generally distribute processing across diverse regions of the brain. Male brains (testosterone modified versions of the female brain) are notably more "compartmentalized" and "focused" in their processing.This is the science behind the popular language of women typically having a natural aptitude for "multi-tasking", and men seeming to generally adopt "single minded" behavioural strategies.
/Hopped!
5:35 PM
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