Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of the International Psychology of Women
- The Cambridge Handbook of the International Psychology of Women
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Section 1 The Underpinnings of Sex and Gender and How to Study Them
- 1 International and Intersectional Perspectives on the Psychology of Women
- 2 Feminist Theory and Methodologies
- 3 The Contents and Discontents of the Nature–Nurture Debate
- 4 Sex, Gender, and Sexuality
- 5a Sex Differences on the Brain
- 5b Sex/Gender Differences in the Brain and their Relationship to Behavior
- Section 2 Developmental Perspectives of the International Psychology of Women
- Section 3 Cognitive and Social Factors
- Section 4 Work and Family Issues
- Section 5 Inequality and Social Justice
- Section 6 Health and Well-Being
- Epilogue Some Final Thoughts and Take-Home Messages
- Index
- References
5a - Sex Differences on the Brain
A Networking Perspective
from Section 1 - The Underpinnings of Sex and Gender and How to Study Them
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 July 2020
- The Cambridge Handbook of the International Psychology of Women
- The Cambridge Handbook of the International Psychology of Women
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Section 1 The Underpinnings of Sex and Gender and How to Study Them
- 1 International and Intersectional Perspectives on the Psychology of Women
- 2 Feminist Theory and Methodologies
- 3 The Contents and Discontents of the Nature–Nurture Debate
- 4 Sex, Gender, and Sexuality
- 5a Sex Differences on the Brain
- 5b Sex/Gender Differences in the Brain and their Relationship to Behavior
- Section 2 Developmental Perspectives of the International Psychology of Women
- Section 3 Cognitive and Social Factors
- Section 4 Work and Family Issues
- Section 5 Inequality and Social Justice
- Section 6 Health and Well-Being
- Epilogue Some Final Thoughts and Take-Home Messages
- Index
- References
Summary
Trying to assess the way sex differences in behavior are reflected in the brain, neuroscience reports produced diverse results triggering hot discussions on whether such differences exist and/or are worth considering in further studies. This chapter summarizes recent progress in the study of sex/gender effect on the brain as viewed from the perspective of (1) anatomy, which is based on the description of various global and local morphometric features of male and female brain structures; and (2) connections, which conceptualizes the brain as a large-scale network of structures interconnected within the human connectome which subserves the transmission and integration of information at both global and local levels. It is argued that the key to understanding the behavioral differentiation of the two sexes might lie in the differences in the architecture of their networks rather than in morphometric measures of particular structures and tissues.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020
References
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Anna Grabowska was born and grew up in Poland when it was a Communist country. Living in a country behind the “iron curtain” made it very difficult to have access to international scientific publications and to establish contacts with other scientific groups in the West. The Solidarity breakthrough and then the accession of Poland to the European Union opened new opportunities for her professional and personal development. In the 1980s, she obtained six months of postdoctoral training in Padua (Italy). Grabowska is Professor of Psychology at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, and Professor Emerita of Biology at the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, where she led the Psychophysiology Laboratory until 2018. In 2016 she was elected a member of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences. From 1998 to 2004 she was a Professor of Psychology at Jagiellonian University, Krakow. She served on the executive committee of the European Brain and Behaviour Society (1994–1997, 2000–2003) and in 2010 she co-chaired the Mid-Year Meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society in Krakow. Her expertise is in understanding the neural networks underlying cognitive function in humans, hemispheric asymmetry, and sex differences. Her research focuses on brain dysfunction (including dyslexia), combining behavioral, cognitive, neuroimaging, and electrophysiological (ERP) approaches. She has three children and six grandchildren. She enjoys her hobbies: skiing, Argentine tango, and gardening.