Upper Intermediate MOODLE Reading Material

BRAIN AND GENDER

Pre-Reading :

In the text paragraph 1/line 1: “Anyone who knows the opposite sex well will tell you that,
at times, men and women seem to be from different planets.” What is your opinion about
this statement/ Do you agree or disagree with it- why/not?

Vocabulary: Match the words with the correct definitions

1.transmit a. something that you think is true although

you have no proof

2.signal b. having a particular quality, such as size

compared with something else
3.relative c. simple message
4.proportionately d. to form an opinion that something is
probably true because of information that
you have
5.instict e. natural behavior; something you do
without having to learn
6.infer f. If something increases, it increases by the
same percentage
7.hormone g. to send a message
8.assumption h. chemical produced by your body that
influences how your body develops or works

1 Anyone who knows the opposite sex well will tell you that, at times, men and women
seem to be from different planets. The sexes often appear to think very differently from each
other. However, until recently, researchers thought that these differences were caused by two
things: social pressures, which have encouraged males and females to behave in a certain
way, and secondly, hormones - chemical signals which tell different part of the body,
including the brain, what to do. Researchers did not think the brain itself caused differences –
on the contrary, they thought the brain’s structure was mostly the same for both sexes.
Interestingly, though, new research is casting doubt on these assumptions: There may be a
third factor that had not previously been considered seriously. Research is now revealing that
male and female brains have many differences in structure. There are also differences in how
the various parts of the brain are linked and in the chemicals that transmit messages between
neurons. All this suggests that there is not just one kind of human brain, but two.

2 This is giving neuroscientists something of a headache, because most of what we

know about the brain comes from studies of male animals and male humans. Generally,
Upper Course Reading Material-2017-July
Adapted and Revised by F.T and E.Ç
Sources: Adapted from: Hoag, H (2008). Sex on the brain. New Scientists, Australasian Edition, 2665,28-31.

Marsa, L. (2007). He thinks,she thinks. Discover magazine. Retrieved August 14, 2008,from
http://discovermagazine.com.
Upper Intermediate MOODLE Reading Material
BRAIN AND GENDER

neuroscientists avoided using females in their research. This was because the monthly ups and
downs of female hormones made it more complicated to interpret the results. If even a small
proportion of what has been inferred from these studies does not apply to females, a huge
body of research could be wrong.

3 Male-Female differences in brain structure are now becoming clear. In the past, the
one structure that had long been known to differ slightly in males and females was the
hypothalamus, which helps to control basic human instincts such as regulating food intake.
But new technology has helped scientists find other differences. For a start, the relative sizes
of many of the structures inside female brains are different from those of males. In 2001, Jill
Goldstein of Harvard Medical School and colleagues measured and compared 45 brain
regions in healthy men and women. They found that parts of the frontal lobe, which houses
decision-making and problem solving functions, were proportionately larger in women, as
was the limbic cortex, which controls emotions. Other studies have found that the
hippocampus, involved in short-term memory and spatial navigation, is proportionally larger
in women- perhaps surprisingly, given women’s reputation as poor map readers. In men,
proportionately larger areas include the parietal cortex, which processes signals from the
sensory organs and is involved in spatial perception, and the amygdala, which controls
emotions and social behaviour.

4 Larry Cahill, a neurobiologist at the University of California, Irvine, has found

evidence that, in some circumstances, people of different sexes use the same brain structures
differently. In brain-imaging experiments, he asked groups of men and women to remember
images they had been shown earlier. These images were chosen because they produce a strong
emotional reaction. Both men and women consistently used the amydgala to complete the
task. However, the men used the right side of the amydgala, while the women used the left
side. What’s more, each group remembered different aspects of the image. The men
remembered the gist of the situation, whereas the women concentrated on the details. This
suggests men and women process information from emotional events in very different ways.

5 These studies are still in their early days, and there is much to be learned.
Neurobiologists do not really have a clear overall picture yet. Large pieces of the puzzle are
missing, in part because imaging techniques are still rather basic. For researchers to see the
brain in action, test subjects need to lie down inside a scanner or be wired up to a PET
machine, which is very different from a real world situation. One possible solution is to attach
a miniature MRI scanner to subjects’ heads. Then researchers would be able to see what
happens as people go about their everyday lives.

6 This area of research has some important uses. Working out exactly how brains are
different could explain some mysteries, such as why men and women tend to have different
Upper Course Reading Material-2017-July
Adapted and Revised by F.T and E.Ç
Sources: Adapted from: Hoag, H (2008). Sex on the brain. New Scientists, Australasian Edition, 2665,28-31.

Marsa, L. (2007). He thinks,she thinks. Discover magazine. Retrieved August 14, 2008,from
http://discovermagazine.com.
Upper Intermediate MOODLE Reading Material
BRAIN AND GENDER

mental health problems and why some drugs work well for one sex but have little effect on
the other. Finding the reasons for this could lead to more effective treatments and better ways
to prevent illness. This would be a very positive result.

READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. What are the 3 reasons that researchers give for the difference between men and
women?

2. What is the problem with the research about the human brain that has been carried
out by neuroscientists?

3. What are the 3 differences in male and female brain structure?

4. Do males and females use the same structure of the brain the same way? What
conclusion can we draw from the example in the text?

5. Why is the study of the brain in its early stages?

6. What does the author suggest to make research results more realistic?

7. How can people benefit from the research conducted on the differences between
male and female brains?

Upper Course Reading Material-2017-July

Adapted and Revised by F.T and E.Ç
Sources: Adapted from: Hoag, H (2008). Sex on the brain. New Scientists, Australasian Edition, 2665,28-31.

Marsa, L. (2007). He thinks,she thinks. Discover magazine. Retrieved August 14, 2008,from
http://discovermagazine.com.
Upper Intermediate MOODLE Reading Material
BRAIN AND GENDER

8. What type of text do you think this reading is?

a. Argumentative
b. Informative
c. Persuasive
d. Critical
9. What type of person do you think would be interested in reading this text?
a. Student b Teacher c Lawyer d Scientist

Upper Course Reading Material-2017-July

Adapted and Revised by F.T and E.Ç
Sources: Adapted from: Hoag, H (2008). Sex on the brain. New Scientists, Australasian Edition, 2665,28-31.

Marsa, L. (2007). He thinks,she thinks. Discover magazine. Retrieved August 14, 2008,from
http://discovermagazine.com.
Upper Intermediate MOODLE Reading Material
BRAIN AND GENDER

ANSWER KEY

Comprehension Questions:

1. social pressure, hormones, and maybe structure

2. research was only done on male brains
3. size of brain, frontal lobe, hippocampus & limbic cortex is larger in women, the
amygdala & parietal cortex are larger in men. While eliciting teacher also asks
what the function of these parts are.
4. no, men focus on the whole, women focus on the details
5. technology-imaging techniques are still basic
6. attach a mini MRI scanner to subject to monitor them in the real world
7. it could lead to more effective treatments and better ways to prevent illness
8. b
9. d

Note: After reading the text, they can be asked to write a summary by using the
main ideas they had identified from the text.

Vocabulary:

1.G

2.C

3.B

4.F

5.E

6.D

7.H

Upper Course Reading Material-2017-July

Adapted and Revised by F.T and E.Ç
Sources: Adapted from: Hoag, H (2008). Sex on the brain. New Scientists, Australasian Edition, 2665,28-31.

Marsa, L. (2007). He thinks,she thinks. Discover magazine. Retrieved August 14, 2008,from
http://discovermagazine.com.
Upper Intermediate MOODLE Reading Material
BRAIN AND GENDER

8.A

Upper Course Reading Material-2017-July

Adapted and Revised by F.T and E.Ç
Sources: Adapted from: Hoag, H (2008). Sex on the brain. New Scientists, Australasian Edition, 2665,28-31.

Marsa, L. (2007). He thinks,she thinks. Discover magazine. Retrieved August 14, 2008,from
http://discovermagazine.com.