The corpus callosum is a structure that joins the two cerebral hemispheres and allows the communication of information between them. It is made up of a large number of nerve fibers that help the brain to coordinate mental functions that are distributed on both sides.
Until now it has been said that the size of the corpus callosum was different between men and women , generally larger in them. Another thing that is known is that the size of the brain is also different, in this case, generally larger in them. What scientists are wondering is whether the differences found in the size of the corpus callosum depend on the differences in the total size of the brain or are they really only based on gender.
Well, this question begins to have its first answers. This has been described by Eileen Luders and her collaborators at the UCLA School of Medicine in Los Angeles (USA) in the journal Neuroimage . In their study, they compared the dimensions of the corpus callosum of 24 men and 24 women that did not differ in total brain size. They also compared 24 men with extremely large brains and compared them with 24 women with extremely small brains to assess whether the possible effects of the gender variable would depend on the degree of difference in brain size between the two samples.
The results showed that the size of the corpus callosum in males was always larger, and that this difference was determined by the difference in the overall size of the brain. Thus, the greater the difference in brain size between men and women, the greater the difference between their corpus callosum . When their brains were identical in size, no such anatomical differences were found in the corpus callosum.
And now we ask ourselves … are we also equal at the level of cognitive performance? Are we just as good at the same things? Will they be better at perceptual abilities? And what about language skills? And most importantly, if so, can that be changed? Just in case, don’t stop trying. Train your brain, whatever size it is.
Marisa Fernández, Senior Neuropsychologist, Unobrain.
