Gender in the brain: between science and ideology

Abstract

Despite tremendous advances in neurosciences, the idea that biology is a major determinant for gender differences in cognition and behavior, is still alive. Media and internet continue to feed the public with old clichés that claim that women are naturally good for empathy but unable to read a map, while men have a brain suited for maths and competition. These discourses suggest that at birth the intellectual abilities are wired differently in the brains of girls and boys. Such a view is in total contradiction with today’s knowledge on cerebral plasticity, and on the role of the environment in re-shaping the brain through learning and experiences. The plasticity concept allows new insight to the question of the origin of brain differences and similarities between the sexes. Experience in the sociocultural context involves gender learning processes which interact with the biological processes. A major challenge is that of building an interdisciplinary dialogue across the biological, social, and human sciences to develop new approaches linking sex, gender and the brain.