Question | Answer |
what gender is the fetal brain until week 8 | female |
what causes the fetal brain to turn male after week 8 | high testosterone surge |
what areas change in the male brain at week 8 due to surge in testosterone | 1)increase in sex and aggression centers like medial preoptic area of hypothalamus
2)decrease in communication & observation centers |
what happens to the fetal brain at week 8 without testosterone surge | 1)sprouts more connections in the communication centers & centers that process emotion like prefrontal cortex which is larger in women and matures 1-2 years faster |
what happens in the 1st 3 months of a baby girls brain | skills in eye & facial gazing increase 400%, boys do not increase |
girls have better developed brain circuits for gathering meaning from | faces and tone of voice |
estrogen is secreted in large amounts from 6 months to 24 months then what | turned off until puberty |
what gender is better at empathy | girls |
what happens in infantile puberty for females | 1)marinate in high estrogen for 6-24 months
2)enhancing growth of neurons & female brain circuits for observation & commnunication |
what happens in infantile puberty for males | 1)marinates in high testosterone from birth-12 months
2)+ muscle development, motor skills
3)after a year testosterone decreases but mullerian inhibitory hormone remains high during juvenile pause continue to form & fuel male specific brain circuits |
in a study:
children were told not to play with a toy what did the girls do | 1)very few girls touch the toy
2)looked at mother 10-20x more than boys for signs of approval/disapproval |
in a study:
children were told not to play with a toy what did the boys do | 1)moved around room
2)rarely glanced at mother's face
3)frequently touched forbidden toy even when mother shouted "no"
4)boys seemed compelled to investigate environment |
what are the effects of estrogen on girl's behavior | 1)invested in preserving harmonious relationships
2)avoid conflict
3)make social bonds based on communication & compromise
4)more talkative(loquacious)
5)sensitive to social nuance |
what are the effects of testosterone on boy's behavior | 1)promotes aggression
-"wrestling" increases dopamine
-designed to protect and defend
2)boys will go behind parents backs to take risks more often than girls
3)boys spend 65% of free time in competitive games compared to 35% of girls |
what are the hormonal differences on brain circuits | 1)male circuits use more testosterone & vasopressin
2)female circuits use more estrogen & oxytocin |
what are the 2 emotional systems | 1)mirror neuron system
2)temporal-parietal junction |
describe the mirror neuron system | 1)neurons fire when we watch others performing motor activities & thought to help us relate to what others are doing
2)emotional empathy
3)dominate in females |
describe the temporal-parietal junction | 1)"analyze and fix it" problem solving
2)keeps a firm boundary between self and other
3)dominate in males |
men and women feel anger the same number of times a day but what gender shows more physical aggression | males 20x more |
why do men show more physical aggression | circuits fueled by testosterone & vasopressin along with epinephrine and cortisol |
what is the brains center for fear, anger & aggression, and what gender is different | 1)amygdala
2)males is larger due to large number of testosterone receptors |
what is the brains center for suppression of fear, anger & aggression and what gender is different | 1)prefrontal cortex
2)larger in female |
what does the degree of anger correlate with | levels of testosterone, both decline with age |
what happens to the prefrontal cortex(frontal lobe) when angry | shuts down |
what is associated with anger | sympathetic nervous system |
how does anger affect physical fear | reduces it |
anger activates territorial fight reaction which stimulates | sympathetic nervous system |
intense anger along with high testosterone stimulates what | reward/pleasure centers along medial forebrain including lateral and ventromedial hypothalamic nuclei |
what is the negative affects of anger | reduces perception of risk |
what is the positive affects of anger | makes us think more clearly |
men and women remember facts equally but what do females do better | recall the emotional events during the facts |
how are males affected by pregnancy hormonally | 1)in last tri. testosterone decreases by 33% and prolactin increases by 20%
-prolactin stimulates connections in the brain for paternal behavior and decreases sex drive
2)due to pheromones by female
-sympathetic pregnancy, weight gain |
the male brain uses what for social bonding and parenting | vasopressin |
what are the affects of vasopressin in males | 1)stimulated by testosterone & triggered by sexual orgasm
2)boosts energy, attention, aggression
3)increase levels of dopamine
4)vasopressin receptors are more present in males |
what does the female brain use for social bonding and parenting | 1)oxytocin
2)estrogen
3)dopamine |
cuddling releases oxytocin which increases what | dopamine |
what are the effects of oxytocin on behavior of both sexes | 1)relaxation
2)fearlessness
3)bonding
4)contentment with one another |
males need to be touched 2-3x more frequently than females to maintain the same levels of what | oxytocin |
without frequent touch what happens to the males brain | 1)brains oxytocin & dopamine circuits & receptors become deficient
2)keeps them coming back for more |
what does dopamine do | 1)stimulates motivation & pleasure circuits in the brain
2)stimulates ovarian estrogen at onset of puberty
3)stimulated by testosterone in boys |
in boys physical play stimulate what in the brain | testosterone |
testosterone also stimulates what in the male brain | vasopressin |