TEDxJaffa -- Daphna Joel -- Are brains male or female?

Professor Daphna Joel explores the mistaken concept that brains can be either male or female, thus providing an explanation for why men and women are different. She disputes the theory, displays the neurological data and proves that our brains are really a unique mosaic of male and female characteristics, forming an 'intersex brain.'

Prof. Joel received her Ph.D. in psychology in Tel-Aviv University, and joined the faculty of TAU in 1998. Prof. Joel is presently the head of the Psychobiology graduate program at the School of Psychological Sciences, and a member of the Sagol School of Neuroscience.

Prof. Joel's research interests focus on understanding the involvement of basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuits in normal and abnormal behavior, using mainly animal models of psychopathology. More recently Prof. Joel has expanded her work to research questions related to brain, sex and gender, and in particular the complex interplay between sex and environment in the development of psychopathology.

[midnightelixirs]

The fact that she is lecturing on such a fascinating subject in a language that isn't her first is very impressive. Just reminds me that both women and men are amazing. Every human is a gift of creation and should be celebrated.

[AndresB]

For the doubters:

"Her new study, completed in in conjunction with other Tel Aviv University researchers, as well as scientists from the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig and the University of Zurich, was published November 30 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)."

[danpatterson]

At 14:47 Professor Daphna Joel states "We now know hundreds of differences between the brains of men and women." So differences exist. If an outside stimulus causes a male brain to behave more like a female brain that is not experiencing that stimulus (as in the example given), the difference in response to the stimulus is another difference between male and female.

[johhnytreason]

For all the people saying there are no citations, the main article she is talking about is at 00:08:26 Get owned.

[lesmizzle]

It is mind boggling how she can use the data she presented as an argument against brain differences in sex. If anything, the data clearly reinforces sexual dimorphism of the brain as the male and female dendrites have *inverse* responses to stress by these tests. Yes, this means they are performing in opposition to one another under stressful conditions. How is another physiological difference observed in any way an argument against these very differences O_o?

[lavadisshields]

I love her! I've been sooo challenged with different thoughts I've had in the past..this has giving me so much clarity ! Thank you 😊

[whynottalklikeapirat]

In ted talks they love to say "it transformed my thinking" and "it transformed my life"
How upbeat we are.

[borisspacek]

So basically, what she's saying is that parts of the male brain resemble parts of the female brain and vice versa under OPPOSITE CIRCUMSTANCES. Thus, they still behave differently under the same conditions, clearly delineating a male brain from a female brain.

[Schtofenbach]

Interesting talk! Those sex "thinking abilities" differences attributed to morphological brain differences always seem ridiculous: It is clear that a person is much more similar in his way of thinking to his parents (regardless their sex) than to that of any other person of the same sex chosen randomly . That means that the statistical differences related to a gender are negligible. If environmental influences further affect the morphology then all this comparisons really seem meaningless.

[bobcatgaze]

She made the argument that brains are intergendered... but she completely fails to take logical reasoning into account when making that argument.

If a brain was intersexual, it would mean that the amount of dendrites would either increase or decrease due to stress REGARDLESS of the gender of the subject the brain matter was taken from...

HOWEVER...

The reaction of the dendrites to stress was demonstrated to be very CLEARLY DIFFERENT due to gender... in point of fact, INVERSELY different. In males, the dendrites increase, whereas in females, the dendrites decrease.

This shows a very CLEAR and CAUSAL difference between gender, and the effects of stress on the brain... whereas her argument was to say that brains aren't gendered... that they are interchangeable.

She just proved her case completely false.

Way to go Tedx. Once again you bamboozle the crowd into thinking completely crackpot things are true, even when the evidence you present refutes everything you are saying.

[jaycelegends]

I'm not a neuro-scientist or anything, but a few points on the logic of this and some things i thought I'd point out.
1. Has there been any studies to show that those specific aspects of the brain that 'change sex' are just normally/naturally responsive to stress?
2. Of course no one has a wholly male brain or wholly female brain, just like not everyone is wholly male or female (females and males both have differing levels on testosterone and estrogen is one example). But we label someone as male or female, or, in this case, label brains as male and female based on many characteristics as a whole. We don't focus on just the size of the brain (now at least) to determine whether it's male or female, but every part of the brain as a whole.
Just something to think about.

[ticiamusic]

Does anyone know which article has the info about the stress changing the sex of the brain!?!?!?

[SeeTheViewFromAHill]

am I the only one getting the impression that there is a BIG difference between Ted and Tedx that TEDx talks are often overburdened with ideology  ? ? ?

[thatsweetlilthing]

I disagree with her statements because it doesn't take into account the resting state of the brain without influences. Of course the brain will change characteristics based on influences in the environment and genetics (neuroplasticity), but that doesn't attempt to evaluate why the brain comes to those changes or how those changes affect future development, or measure for how long these changes last.

[guineapigarms]

what about boys or girls that over compensate to prove they are what is expected of there asigned gender, then later on in life, 20, 30, 40, or older, they come out to family and loved ones, but all they know is to act macho or feminine. this is my case inside i feel female out side is totally and obviously male. and its killing me, im 45 and risk losing everything.

[TatianaSchumacher-if]

This knowledge is a game changer! Thank you so much!

[ChrisDragotta]

what is different is both the identity (as male or female), and the role in society, which in turn sets up feedback loops.

[pritampanda]

Yes she is 100% true, there is no male or female brain, brain is intersex, she is right !!!! I THINK SO ! I support her ! Thank you madam

[_Junkers]

The fact that the dendrites are never in the same state in each environment would suggest the complete opposite of what she's claiming. She hasn't really explained the significance of the spines in terms of behaviour, but assuming they are and hence making her point relevant, you would expect different behaviour from either sex in a particular environment. She's provided a very subjective take on things, can't help but feel it panders to the feminist agenda.

[Eerielai]

She says there's no male and female brains, but there are male and female characteristics, and she doesn't define what those are. If the stressed female neuron is similar to a non-stressed male neuron - which one of the two characteristic (many / few dendrites) is male and which female? No there's no binary male and female brains, but there is a biphasic sexual dimorphism of the brain with a wide overlap.