Sex differences in parietal lobe morphology: Relationship to mental rotation performance

Koscik, Timothy R.; O’Leary, Dan; Moser, David J.; Andreasen, Nancy C.; Nopoulos, Peg

doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2008.09.004

Cited by 146 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Differences mainly deal with the dorsal regions, and enlargement of the precuneus is associated with increase in its cortical surface area [Bruner et al, 2015b]. Parietal lobes generally present larger size, more connections, and larger surface area in males than females, a difference associated with distinct visuospatial performance [Koscik et al, 2009]. Nonetheless, the overall precuneus morphology apparently does not depend on brain size, sex, hemisphere, or geographic ancestry .…”

Section: The Living Evidence: Parietal Lobe Morphologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Paleoneurology and the Evolution of the Parietal Cortex

Bruner¹

2018

Brain Behav Evol

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Paleoneurology deals with the study of brain anatomy in fossil species, as inferred from the morphology of their endocranial features. When compared with other living and extinct hominids, Homo sapiens is characterized by larger parietal bones and, according to the paleoneurological evidence, also by larger parietal lobes. The dorsal elements of the posterior parietal cortex (superior parietal lobules, precuneus, and intraparietal sulcus) may be involved in these morphological changes. This parietal expansion was also associated with an increase in the corresponding vascular networks, and possibly with increased heat loads. Only H. sapiens has a specific early ontogenetic stage in which brain form achieves such globular appearance. In adult modern humans, the precuneus displays remarkable variation, being largely responsible for the longitudinal parietal size. The precuneus is also much more expanded in modern humans than in chimpanzees. Parietal expansion is not influenced by brain size in fossil hominids or living primates. Therefore, our larger parietal cortex must be interpreted as a derived feature. Spatial models suggest that the dorsal and anterior areas of the precuneus might be involved in these derived morphological variations. These areas are crucial for visuospatial integration, and are sensitive to both genetic and environmental influences. This article reviews almost 20 years of my collaborations on human parietal lobe evolution, integrating functional craniology, paleoneurology, and evolutionary neuroanatomy.

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Section: The Living Evidence: Parietal Lobe Morphologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Paleoneurology and the Evolution of the Parietal Cortex

Bruner¹

2018

Brain Behav Evol

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“…Functional MRI revealed that while solving the same 3D task, men were predominantly activating parietal areas, while women appeared to use the inferior frontal areas [3]. These functional differences are linked to subtle morphological differences [4]. Interestingly, sex differences have only been seen in pencil and paper tests on mental rotation, but not in the virtual environment [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The effects of exogenous testosterone on spatial memory in rats

et al. 2010

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Testosterone (T) is known to affect spatial abilities in men and women. Studies focusing on this relationship showed that both endogenous variability of T and administration of exogenous T, altered mental rotation and spatial visualization. Organizational and activational effects of T can be separately identified. The aim of our study was to evaluate the activational effects of exogenous T on spatial memory in male and female rats. T was administered 3 times a week over a two week period in either 1 mg/kg for low testosterone group or 10 mg/kg for high testosterone group. The Morris water maze was performed to assess the rat's working and reference spatial memory. T and estradiol levels were measured in plasma. Increase in plasma T levels was confirmed in the experimental groups in comparison to the control groups (receiving sterile oil, 3 times a week over a two week period). Low dose T impaired working, but improved reference memory in female rats. In male rats the negative effects of T (both doses) on reference memory were shown. This experiment showed that the activational effects of exogenous testosterone on spatial memory of rats were gender and dose-dependent.© Versita Sp. z o.o.

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“…On the other hand, women are more effective than men to perform spatial memory tasks as shown in Klingberg's (2006) study. According to Koscik et al (2009) study in the field of neuroscience, these differences are due to structural differences between men and women brains (more specifically, in the parietal lobe). These morphological characteristics involve different performing strategies for spatial tasks, which come at the expense of the mental rotations performances for women (Koscik et al, 2009).…”

Section: Influence Of the Stable Lateralized Visual Landmarkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Koscik et al (2009) study in the field of neuroscience, these differences are due to structural differences between men and women brains (more specifically, in the parietal lobe). These morphological characteristics involve different performing strategies for spatial tasks, which come at the expense of the mental rotations performances for women (Koscik et al, 2009). These studies can explain why the female participants preferred to use the egocentric reference system even when the visual landmark was present.…”

Section: Influence Of the Stable Lateralized Visual Landmarkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of contextual objects on spatial interactions and viewpoints sharing in virtual environments

Chellali¹,

Milleville-Pennel

Dumas

2012

Virtual Reality

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Collaborative virtual environments are 3D spaces in which users share virtual objects, communicate and work together. To collaborate efficiently, users must develop a common representation of their shared virtual space. In this work, we investigated spatial communication in virtual environments. In order to perform an object co-manipulation task the users must be able to communicate and exchange spatial information, such as object position, in a virtual environment. We conducted an experiment in which we manipulated the contents of the shared virtual space to understand how users verbally construct a common spatial representation of their environment. Forty four students participated in the experiment to assess the influence of contextual objects on spatial communication and sharing of viewpoints. The participants were asked to perform in dyads an object co-manipulation task. The results show that the presence of a contextual object such as fixed and lateralized visual landmarks in the virtual environment positively influences the way male operators collaborate to perform this task. These results allow us to provide some design recommendations for collaborative virtual environments for object manipulation tasks. Keywords INTRODUCTIONIn everyday life, spatial interactions are ruled by the operators' perception of their surrounding space. An operator relies on this knowledge to communicate spatial information to peers. Describing an object's position for example will depend on different parameters: the object position, the speaker's and the listener's point of view …etc. However, these kinds of tasks become hard to perform in virtual environments. Indeed, virtual environments change the users' perception of the surrounding space. This leads to some communication problems when two partners perform a spatial task together (such as co-manipulating a shared object) in a Collaborative Virtual Environment (CVE). From this perspective the design of virtual environments that support collaborative spatial activities remains an open issue. This paper deals with communication problems during spatial interactions in virtual environments. Our focus is to study communication during synchronous spatial tasks from a human factor point of view. Our goal is to demonstrate that the contents of shared virtual environments can be used to support spatial communication and improve the users' mutual understanding of the shared space. Before addressing problems arising during collaborative manipulation tasks in virtual environments, we will give some description first, in order to bring out the link between the CVE characteristics and the spatial communication problems during collaboration in these environments. Common frame of referenceTo support collaborative interactions in virtual environments, it is important to identify the main components of successful collaboration. When two operators collaborate in the real world, they construct a COmmon Frame Of Reference (COFOR): a common mental representation of the shared situation (...

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Sex differences in parietal lobe morphology: Relationship to mental rotation performance

Cited by 146 publications

References 63 publications

Human Paleoneurology and the Evolution of the Parietal Cortex

Human Paleoneurology and the Evolution of the Parietal Cortex

The effects of exogenous testosterone on spatial memory in rats

Influence of contextual objects on spatial interactions and viewpoints sharing in virtual environments

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