For years, we’ve been told that women and men have fundamentally different brains, leading to distinct behaviours and outcomes. Today, research challenges this notion. Rather than fixed “female” or “male” brains, the evidence suggests a dynamic, complex interplay of factors shaping cognitive function. As researchers explore the brain, its evolution and ageing in this video podcast, they uncover nuances that defy simplistic gender stereotypes, challenge the myth of female and male brains and embrace the idea of a human brain.
This topic will be at the centre of the conference “Gender and the brain” hosted online Tuesday 5 March from 15.00 (European Central Time). Three days before the International Women’s Day, an international and interdisciplinary panel will exchange around the BBC journalist Tanya Beckett.
Cat Bohannon (researcher scholar and writer of EVE), Anja Leist (professor in Public Health and Aging at the University of Luxembourg) and Anastasia Litina (Professor in Economics of Culture at the University of Macedonia) will enrich the debate with their in-depth knowledge of gender issues in their respective disciplines.
Scientific research put the light on some gender differences in neurological disorders. “We have a higher risk of women to experience stroke, dementia or multiple sclerosis – but a lower risk to experience Parkinson’s Disease”, illustrates Anja Leist. She also points out gender differences in intelligence tests, “even if some tests show advantage of the one or other gender on subdomains (such as verbal intelligence, spatial orientation)”.
The professor of Neuroscience at the Tel-Aviv University Daphna Joel will be the keynote speaker. The rector of the University of Luxembourg Jens Kreisel will introduce the panellists.
This event is organised by the Gender Equality Officer and the Gender Equality Committee and under the High Patronage of H.R.H. the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.