What scientific research/studies can you find that show that right
brain functions are more dominant in women, and left-brain functions
are more dominant in men?

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Request for Question Clarification by axe-ga on 10 May 2002 17:42 PDT

Hi,

Just wanted to verify that you didn't mix it up in your question - Are
you sure you're looking for studies that specify the left-brain is
more active in men, and not vice versa? After some preliminary digging
I've been able to find a limited set of studies that pertain to this
matter, but they all seem to be of the opinion that the left-brain is
more dominant in women (and the right-brain more dominant in men.)

Just making sure there isn't a mixup!

Axe

Axe is correct in stating that there are far more studies that show a
male-right, female-left dominance. Lacking your clarification,
however, I will answer the question as it is written. If it turns out
to be backwards, let me know, and I will provide the appropriate
references.

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GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE NORMAL LATERALIZATION OF THE SUPRATEMPORAL
CORTEX - MRI SURFACE-RENDERING MORPHOMETRY OF HESCHLS GYRUS AND THE
PLANUM TEMPORALE
KULYNYCH JJ, VLADAR K, JONES DW, WEINBERGER DR
CEREBRAL CORTEX 
4 (2): 107-118 MAR-APR 1994

"We assessed asymmetry of the planum temporale (PT), a supratemporal
region of auditory association cortex, in 12 normal, right-handed
females and 12 age-matched right-handed males with the aid of MRI
surface-rendering morphometry...We found a significant interaction
between gender and hemisphere for the PT, with males having
significantly larger left versus right PTs. Left-right differences in
PT area were not significant among females (10 of 12 males showed
leftward lateralization of the PT, vs 5 of 12 females)...This finding
of gender dimorphism in PT area is consistent with evidence for
reduced asymmetry among females in the lateralization of language
functions attributable to the supratemporal cortex."

This is relevant to language skills, as shown in a page from
BrainPlace.com ( http://www.brainplace.com/bp/malefemaledif/default.asp
) : "for men, language is most often just in the dominant hemisphere
(usually the left side), but a larger number of women seem to be able
to use both sides for language. This gives them a distinct advantage.
If a woman has a stroke in the left front side of the brain, she may
still retain some language from the right front side. Men who have the
same left sided damage are less likely to recover as fully."

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GENDER-RELATED AND HANDEDNESS-RELATED DIFFERENCES OF FOREBRAIN
OXYGENATION AND HEMODYNAMICS
OKADA F, TOKUMITSU Y, HOSHI Y, TAMURA M
BRAIN RESEARCH 
601 (1-2): 337-342 JAN 22 1993

"To elucidate gender- and handedness-related differences between the
hemispheres of the brain in their metabolisms and hemodynamics,
simultaneous monitoring by near-infrared (NIR) spectrophotometry of
hemoglobin (Hb) in both hemispheres of the forebrain during the mirror
drawing task (MDT) was performed...There were gender- and
handedness-related differences of hemodynamics between the hemispheres
of the brain; NIR results showed that a large majority of women used
both sides of the brain when concentrating on carrying out the MDT,
whilst most men, especially left-handers, reacted mainly using the
hemisphere which was 'dominant' according to handedness."

Because most people are right-handed, and therefore left-dominant,
this study shows that most men used mainly the left hemisphere in this
task, whereas women used a bit of both.

hey candygram

I looked around and found some research, much of which focuses on left
and right handedness as it relates to gender - hopefully a start at
least

Geschwind, N., & Galaburda, A.M. (1985c or 1987 c).. Cerebral
lateralization: Biological mechanisms, associations, and pathology: I.
A hypothesis and a program for research. Archives of Neurology, 42,
564-578 and 634-654.

- observed the apparent difference between the number of male
left-handers and female left-handers


Oldfield, R.C. (1971). The assessment and analysis of handedness: The
Edinburgh Inventory. Neuropsychologia, 9, 97-113.

- found a higher prevalence of left-handedness in males


Geschwind, N., & Behan, P.O. (1984). Laterality, hormones, and
immunity. In N. Geschwind & A.M. Galaburda (Eds.)., Cerebral
Dominance. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 211-224.

- discusses Oldfield


Ellis, S.J., Ellis, P.J. (1988) Marshall, E. Hand preference in a
normal population. Cortex, 14, 157-163.

- found no significant difference between men and women regarding
handedness


check out section C. Developmental Theories on this page:

http://duke.usask.ca/~elias/left/causes.htm


Haier1, R.J., & Benbow, C.P. (1995) Sex-differences and lateralization
in temporal-lobe glucose-metabolism during mathematical reasoning.
Developmental Neuropsychology, Vol.11, No.4, p.405

- glucose metabolic rate in temporal lobe regions was positively
correlated with math reasoning score in men but not in women


you might want to check this out:

http://www.dana.org/books/radiotv/eyb_0298.cfm

sorry, forgot to add this - has some info on language

http://www.brainplace.com/bp/malefemaledif/default.asp

In context of the question," what is the difference between the left
side of the brain and the right side of the brain in association
between man and women"
I would ask the inquirer to evaluate the subject of right brain and
left brain histories.
Their is one book that defines the field.
Julian Mays,"The Origin of Conciousness of the Breakdown of The
Bicmeral Mind."
Mark