Hodgetts Sophie, Hausmann Markus
School of Psychology, University of Sunderland, Sunderland, UK.
Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK.
Curr Top Behav Neurosci. 2023;62:71-99. doi: 10.1007/7854_2022_303.
There is now a significant body of literature concerning sex/gender differences in the human brain. This chapter will critically review and synthesise key findings from several studies that have investigated sex/gender differences in structural and functional lateralisation and connectivity. We argue that while small, relative sex/gender differences reliably exist in lateralisation and connectivity, there is considerable overlap between the sexes. Some inconsistencies exist, however, and this is likely due to considerable variability in the methodologies, tasks, measures, and sample compositions between studies. Moreover, research to date is limited in its consideration of sex/gender-related factors, such as sex hormones and gender roles, that can explain inter-and inter-individual differences in brain and behaviour better than sex/gender alone. We conclude that conceptualising the brain as 'sexually dimorphic' is incorrect, and the terms 'male brain' and 'female brain' should be avoided in the neuroscientific literature. However, this does not necessarily mean that sex/gender differences in the brain are trivial. Future research involving sex/gender should adopt a biopsychosocial approach whenever possible, to ensure that non-binary psychological, biological, and environmental/social factors related to sex/gender, and their interactions, are routinely accounted for.
目前有大量关于人类大脑中性别差异的文献。本章将批判性地回顾和综合几项研究的关键发现，这些研究调查了结构和功能偏侧化及连接性方面的性别差异。我们认为，虽然在偏侧化和连接性方面确实存在相对较小的性别差异，但两性之间存在相当大的重叠。然而，也存在一些不一致之处，这可能是由于不同研究在方法、任务、测量和样本构成方面存在很大差异。此外，迄今为止的研究在考虑与性别相关的因素（如性激素和性别角色）方面存在局限性，这些因素比单纯的性别更能解释大脑和行为的个体间及个体内差异。我们得出结论，将大脑概念化为“性别二态性”是不正确的，神经科学文献中应避免使用“男性大脑”和“女性大脑”这样的术语。然而，这并不一定意味着大脑中的性别差异微不足道。未来涉及性别的研究应尽可能采用生物心理社会方法，以确保与性别相关的非二元心理、生物和环境/社会因素及其相互作用能被常规考虑在内。
