Male vs. Female Brain Differences & How They Arise From Genes & Hormones | Dr. Nirao Shah

My guest is Dr. Nirao Shah, MD, PhD, a professor of psychiatry, behavioral sciences and neurobiology at Stanford University School of Medicine. We discuss how the brains of males and females differ and how those differences arise from different genes and hormones during fetal development, in childhood and adulthood. We discuss what drives male- versus female-specific behaviors and how hormonal fluctuations across the lifespan, including puberty, the menstrual cycle, menopause and aging – affect behavior, cognition and health. Additionally, we discuss how biology relates to gender identity and the impact of hormone therapies on brain circuits that regulate mating, parenting and social bonding.  

Articles

• Organizing action of prenatally administered testosterone propionate on the tissues mediating mating behavior in the female guinea pig (Endocrinology)
• Estrogen masculinizes neural pathways and sex-specific behaviors (Cell)
• Early androgen treatment and male and female sexual behavior in mice (Hormones and Behavior)
• A functional circuit underlying male sexual behaviour in the female mouse brain (Nature)
• Aromatization of androstenedione by limbic system tissue from human foetuses (Journal of Endocrinology)
• A neural circuit for male sexual behavior and reward (Cell)
• Positive reinforcement produced by electrical stimulation of septal area and other regions of rat brain (Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology)
• Functional identification of an aggression locus in the mouse hypothalamus (Nature)
• Oxytocin receptor is not required for social attachment in prairie voles (Neuron)
• Periodic Remodeling in a Neural Circuit Governs Timing of Female Sexual Behavior (Cell)
• Multisensory integration of natural odors and sounds in the auditory cortex (Neuron)
• Off with her hair: Intrasexually competitive women advise other women to cut off more hair (Personality and Individual Differences)
• Atrazine induces complete feminization and chemical castration in male African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis) (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America)

Other Resources

• Pleasure Centers in the Brain (Scientific American)
• VMH stimulation causes mouse to display aggressive behaviors toward an inanimate object (e.g., glove)

Huberman Lab Episodes Mentioned

• Health Effects & Risks of Kratom, Opioids & Other Natural Occurring Medicines | Dr. Chris McCurdy
• Dr. Michael Eisenberg: Improving Male Sexual Health, Function & Fertility

People Mentioned

• Robert Sapolsky: professor of biology, Stanford University
• David Anderson: professor of biology,  Caltech
• Susana Lima: neuroscientist, Champalimaud Research
• Frank Lloyd Wright: American architect
• Adi Mizrahi: professor of neurobiology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Ben Barres: neuroscientist, Stanford University