Gender inequality may shrink women’s brain: Study

Gender inequality is associated with differences in the structure of men and women’s brains, according to global research findings, including from India. The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed that in countries with greater gender inequality, the cortical thickness of the right hemisphere of women’s brains was thinner than men’s. In more gender equal countries there was no significant difference. The areas of the brain affected were those particularly associated with stress and emotions, and that are also affected in stress-related disorders such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, the study found. “Our analysis suggests some sex differences in brain structure are associated with the adverse social environment under which many women live,” said lead author Dr Nicolas Crossley, Visiting Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, UK. “We therefore think that what we are seeing is the effect of chronic stress in women’s brains in gender unequal environments,” added Crossley, who is also Associate Professor in the Pontificia Universidad Catolica in Chile, said.