Reflection

Posted by Winnie Melda on October 16th, 2018

Sex Differences in the Brain, Behavior, and Neuropsychiatric

Sex differences are revealed from childhood. Most of the cases girls chose to play with dolls while boys chose to play with balls and toy cars. Similarly, green vervet monkeys revealed similar behavior; female monkeys were interested in playing with dolls while male monkeys chose balls and toy cars. Hormone testosterone plays a role in contributing to sex differences. Girls who get exposed to high concentration of testosterone during growth and development stages are likely to reveal boys characteristic on selecting playmates. Drawing art also reveals sexual differences. Male sex tends to draw complex objects such as weapons, fighting, and transportation systems. In contrast, girl’s drawings include human figures, butterflies, and flowers.  Boy’s drawings are usually characterized by dull colors while bright colors characterize girl's drawings. Sex differences are also revealed in adults whereby aggressive behavior mostly characterizes males while. However, sex differences can be contributed some human conditions such as Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) whereby girls reveal boys characteristics.

Development of Sex Differences in Brain

Sex determination happens between 6 and 12 weeks of pregnancy. Cascade genes influence the development of testis and ovaries. The presence of testosterone and process of conversion into dihydrotestosterone leads to the formation of the penis, prostate glands, and scrotum. Formation of female ovaries is based on the absence of androgens. Hormones influence sex differentiation of the brain. During puberty stage, brain connections that were formed during womb get activated under the influence of hormones. However, sexual differentiation of brains is not influenced by hormones alone. In boys, testosterone is at highest concentration in mid-pregnancy and during first three months after birth. During the two periods are major sex differences in the brain. The increase in hormones concentration at puberty contributes to stimulation of circuits and behavior patterns set during the development stage. Genital sexual differences take place in first two months of pregnancy. While sexual differentiation of brains comes later and fully develops upon reaching puberty stage. Such instances may result to individuals having male sex organs and experiences female characteristics, or individuals having female sex organs but experience characteristics of a male. Interactions among genes, sexual hormones, as well as developing sex cells contribute to structural differences in the brain. The corresponding sex differences in the brain helps in distinguishing gender roles such as behavior exhibited by man or woman. It also defines gender identity that makes individuals get convinced that they belong to the male of the female gender. Sexual orientation status is defined by sex differences in the brain resulting to heterosexuality, bisexuality, and homosexuality. Interferences that may affect interactions between sex hormones affect physical behavior of a male or a female.  

Sex Differences in Brain Disorder

Sex differences in the brain that mostly occurs during development stages lead to neurological or psychiatric diseases. Other issues that contributed to neurological or psychiatric diseases include having differences in circulating hormone levels causing wrong or contradicting circulating effects. Most common neurological or psychiatric diseases are diseases such as depression. Several factors contribute to various sexual orientations. Abnormal sex hormone development may contribute to the presence of many bisexuals or homosexual girls. Exposure to nicotine, amphetamine, or thyroid hormones causes the high possibility of giving birth to lesbian daughters. Stress causes a pregnant woman to have a high likelihood of giving birth to a homosexual son. The social environment is not linked with many contributions on gender identity, pedophilia, or sexual orientation.  

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at Melda Research in nursing paper writing services if you need a similar paper you can place your order for medical essay writing service online.