Jill Goldstein of Harvard Medical School: ‘Brain differences, though small, help us to understand the nature of sex differences in disease, and thus will hopefully aid in devising sex-specific treatments and prevention strategies.’ Staff photo Jon Chase/Harvard News Office |
Sex differences in brains reflect disease risksWomen may need different treatment from menJune 25, 2007By William J. Cromie
Women’s brains are different from men’s. That’s not news. What is news is that the differences are smaller than most people believe. They are not big enough to say that one sex is smarter or better at math than the other. What is also news is that the small differences can be significant when it comes to memory, arousal, reasoning, and risk of some diseases. The latter include depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, drug abuse, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and heart disease. “Brain differences, though small, help us to understand the nature of sex differences in disease, and thus will hopefully aid in devising sex-specific treatments and prevention strategies,” notes Jill Goldstein, a professor of psychiatry and medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS). |
