Male and female brain differences negligible
Meta-analysis of structural MRI volumes that found no significant difference in hippocampal size between men and women. Meta-analysis is a statistical technique that allows researchers to combine the findings from many independent studies into a comprehensive review. Hippocampi are located on both sides of the brain, under the cerebral cortex. The team's findings challenge the common claim that a disproportionately larger hippocampus explains females' tendency toward greater emotional expressiveness, stronger interpersonal skills, and better verbal memory."Many people believe there is such a thing as a 'male brain' and a 'female brain,'" Dr. Eliot said. "But when you look beyond the popularized studies at collections of all the data you often find that the differences are minimal."
Meta-analyses by other investigators have also disproved other purported sex differences in the brain, Dr. Eliot noted. There is no difference in the size of the corpus callosum, white matter that allows the two sides of the brain to communicate, nor do men and women differ in the way their left and right hemispheres process language.
Ref: Anh Tan, Wenli Ma, Amit Vira, Dhruv Marwha, Lise Eliot. The human hippocampus is not sexually-dimorphic: Meta-analysis of structural MRI volumes. NeuroImage, 2016; 124: 350
DOI:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.08.050
