By now, most people have heard of the infamous Google memo, but if you haven’t, part of the author’s argument is that women are underrepresented in technical fields due to innate characteristics, rather than social forces. There are many gender stereotypes, but what does science say? Are there actually any structural differences between male and female brains?

到目前為止,，大多數(shù)人都聽說過那個(gè)臭名昭著的谷歌備忘錄，如果沒有,，那我告訴你，作者的部分論點(diǎn)就是，女性在技術(shù)領(lǐng)域的表現(xiàn)不如男性,，這取決于其本質(zhì)特征，而非社會因素,。除此還有很多性別的陳規(guī)舊習(xí),，但科學(xué)是怎么說的呢？男性和女性的大腦真有結(jié)構(gòu)上的區(qū)別嗎,？

This argument is not new. Interest in the neurological gender divide dates back to at least the late nineteenth century. Measuring brains was a thing: several studies weighed the brains of a wide variety of individuals, likely with the intent of proving the inferiority of certain races or social classes. The authors of one 1906 study, for example, concluded that women’s brains were naturally smaller than men’s brains. Even in 1906, there was pushback. Rival researchers wrote that human brain size is typically proportional to body size. Women trend towards smaller bodies, with proportional brains. Inherent gender difference was shot down as a valid explanation of the study’s results.

這種說法并不新鮮,。對神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)性別分歧的興趣至少可以追溯到19世紀(jì)晚期。測量大腦就是其中之一：好幾項(xiàng)研究都對不同個(gè)體的大腦進(jìn)行過測試,，可能是為了證明某些種族或社會階層的低劣,。例如,，1906年一項(xiàng)研究的作者得出結(jié)論，女性的大腦天生比男性的大腦要小,。同樣是在1906年,，也出現(xiàn)了不同觀點(diǎn)。意見相左研究人員寫道,，人的大腦體積通常與體型成正比,。女性通常身材較小，大腦也相應(yīng)較小,。研究結(jié)果無法作出有效解釋,，內(nèi)在性別差異因此而被否定。

No study, even those finding strong differences, has ever found differences in cognitive ability.

任何研究,，即使是那些發(fā)現(xiàn)了巨大差異的研究,，都沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)認(rèn)知能力的差異。

Fast-forward a century to the age of advanced medical imagery and…better pictures, but basically we’re still putting brains on a scale. Imaging studies from the early 2000s of male and female brains found that different parts of the brain were relatively larger or smaller (as a percentage of total brain size) in each gender. For example, males tend to have larger frontal cortexes, the area where higher thinking occurs. Contrary to stereotype, men also have larger amygdalas, where emotional stimuli are processed. There are also size differences in the hippocampus and structural differences in the temporal lobe where language is processed.

一個(gè)世紀(jì)很快過去,，進(jìn)入了先進(jìn)醫(yī)學(xué)影像和……更佳圖片的時(shí)代,，但基本上我們?nèi)匀话汛竽X局限于一定的規(guī)模中。21世紀(jì)初,，男性和女性大腦的成像研究發(fā)現(xiàn),，無論哪個(gè)性別，大腦的不同部分都會相對較大或較小(占大腦總大小的百分比),。例如,，男性通常擁有較大的額葉皮質(zhì)，這是進(jìn)行高級思維的區(qū)域,。與那些陳規(guī)舊習(xí)相反,，男人還有較大的杏仁核，這是處理情感刺激的區(qū)域,。此外,，海馬體也有大小差異，而在處理語言的顳葉則存在結(jié)構(gòu)差異,。

But what do these differences actually mean? Actually, nobody can say for sure. The understanding of the brain, and exactly what the images are showing, is still in its relative infancy. Does a larger amygdala, for example, actually have any bearing on how the brain works? There’s no hard evidence that it does. Another common staple of neuroimaging studies, examining which parts of the brain “l(fā)ight up” in response to stimuli, are also problematic. The image is slower than the brain, so whatever is recorded by an MRI is not exactly what is happening. The lag time can cloud interpretation. There have also been problems replicating many of the studies that found structural gender differences.

但這些差異究竟意味著什么呢,？實(shí)際上，沒有人能肯定,。對大腦的理解,，以及圖像到底說明什么，仍處于相對的初期階段,。例如,，較大的杏仁核對大腦的工作方式到底有沒有影響？沒有確鑿的證據(jù)能證明這一點(diǎn),。常見神經(jīng)影像研究的另一個(gè)重要部分,，即檢查大腦中哪些部分對刺激有反應(yīng),，也存在問題。圖像比大腦要慢,，因此,，任何由MRI(磁共振成像)記錄的東西都不一定是正在發(fā)生的事情。滯后時(shí)間可能造成解釋混亂,。許多發(fā)現(xiàn)結(jié)構(gòu)性性別差異的研究中也出現(xiàn)了問題,。

So what’s the bottom line? There may be literal differences between male and female brains, but there is no evidence whatsoever that links these differences to behavior or performance. No study, even those finding strong differences, has ever found differences in cognitive ability. If women are underrepresented in any intellectual pursuit, there is no evidence—none—of a biological reason for it. This is despite more than a century of looking.

那么最后結(jié)果是什么呢？男性和女性的大腦可能確實(shí)存在差異,，但沒有任何證據(jù)表明這些差異與行為或表現(xiàn)有關(guān),。任何研究,，即使是那些發(fā)現(xiàn)了巨大差異的研究,，都沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)認(rèn)知能力的差異。如果女性在知性探索方面的表現(xiàn)差強(qiáng)人意,，也沒有任何證據(jù)表明這是生物學(xué)的原因,。一個(gè)多世紀(jì)的研究依然莫衷一是。

At most, different genders might use different neurological processes to solve the same problems, but reach the same result. The main utility of all these studies is possibly to more specifically target medication therapies for greatest effect.

在大多數(shù)情況下,，不同的性別可能使用不同的神經(jīng)過程來解決相同的問題,，但結(jié)果卻相同。所有這些研究的主要效用可能是更明確指出藥物治療才是最大的影響因素,。