Sex Differences In Lateralization Summary

In the essay “Sex differences in Lateralization” the research the author has provided is stating that the brains of men and women differ in ways that affect our cognitive functions, which is our brains way of attaining information. In the essay, the author claims that Cultural factors play a significant role in shaping skills and interest of males and females. That Parents tend to talk to little girls more, and they encourage boys to play with mechanical objects and discourage them from many verbal activities such as writing poetry (“Sex Differences in Lateralization,” 2013). This statement reflects on the beginning paragraph that psychologists know “that females typically score higher on tests of verbal fluency, perceptual speed, and manual …show more content…
In this essay, the author clearly states they don’t support biological factors ability to change the brain.” Meaning that being a man or woman doesn’t change the composition of our brains. In addition, their research indicates that social, environmental, and cultural factors can change the composition of the brain. The first research indicates how sensory enrichment or deprivation could affect the brain. In one series of studies, young male rats were raised in one of two conditions: an enriched environment, with six to 12 rats sharing an open mesh cage filled with toys, or an impoverished one, in which rats lived alone without toys or companions (Cummins et al., 1977). Days or months later, the experimenters weighed the rats' forebrains. The brains of enriched rats tended to be heavier than those of the deprived rats, indicating that different environments can alter the course of neural development (“A global vista: Environment, culture, and the brain,” 2013). Based the environments around them their neural development was shaped differently. Rats with the rich environment were probably more happy and active with the toys and other companions making the composition of their cerebral cortex more complexed and developed (heavier), while the rats that had no interaction nor toys were distressed and depressed making their neural development lack the growth needed to reach their brains full development. Next, they ask the question “Is the same true of humans? And can cultural differences become translated into neurological differences”? (“A global vista: Environment, culture, and the brain,” 2013). In one of my lectures, we learned that only 25% of maturation of the brain is done at birth, and it continues thru young adulthood