http://may-dryad.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] may-dryad.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] joreth 2009-10-12 11:15 pm (UTC)

Yes, I want the book just for the comparison graphs. That's such an excellent way to explain the concept that there more differences among the sexes than between them in a lot of areas.

And as I mentioned, her earlier book, What's Going in in There?: How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life, is also an excellent read. One of the things she explains in it is that the brain begins with exponentially more neural connections than it ends up needing. Whichever pathways get used the most are the ones that remain and grow stronger, while pathways that are found to be less efficient wither away. A microcosmic survival of the fittest. And it definitely seems to fit in with the idea that the process of learning (gendered) behaviors physically alters the brain, so that even biological differences between the brains of men and women could be ascribed to nurture rather than nature. Cool stuff.

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