Medical Discovery News
Science permeates everyday life. Yet the understanding of advances in biomedical science is limited at best. Few people make the connection that biomedical science is medicine and that biomedical scientists are working today for the medicine of tomorrow. Our weekly five-hundred-word newspaper column (http://www.illuminascicom.com/) and two-minute radio show provide insights into a broad range of biomedical science topics. Medical Discovery News is dedicated to explaining discoveries in biomedical research and their promise for the future of medicine. Each release is designed to stimulate listeners to think, question and appreciate how science affects their health as well as that of the rest of the world. We also delve into significant biomedical discoveries and portray how science (or the lack of it) has impacted health throughout history.
Medical Discovery News
Brain Scanning shows that Gender and Sex are Different
945 Brain Scanning shows that Gender and Sex are Different
Welcome to Medical Discovery News. I’m Dr David Niesel
And I’m Dr. Norbert Herzog
Even though as a society, we debate how to treat a person’s sex and gender, research suggests the two use distinct communication networks in the brain.
Sex divides us into male and female groups based on our biology such as sex organs. Gender though is based on culture and society.
A new brain study adds to current evidence that sex and gender are distinct. The study used functional MRI brain scans of nearly five thousand nine and ten year olds with half assigned as female at birth and the other male at birth.
Children and parents were both asked questions about gender preferences and the children’s behavior. Then the children had fMRI scans while being asked test questions designed to stimulate brain activity related to memory and emotional response processing.
The goal was to discover what brain circuits, regions, and networks were activated and whether the information could determine sex and gender.
Machine learning analyzed the results and while it could accurately predict the sex assigned at birth, it had a harder time determining gender. The networks that were connected to sex were sensory processing and motor control.
But the networks linked to gender were distributed across the brain and to cognitive abilities involving emotional processing, social cognition and attention.
Even though more work is needed, again we’re seeing that gender and sex identity are processed by the brain in different ways.
We are Drs. David Niesel and Norbert Herzog, at UTMB and Quinnipiac University, where biomedical discoveries shape the future of medicine. For much more and our disclaimer go to medicaldiscoverynews.com or subscribe to our podcast. Sign up for expanded print episodes at www.illuminascicom.com
