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DOI: 10.1055/s-2004-830296
Geschlechtsunterschiede kognitiver Leistungen - populärwissenschaftliche Stereotypien oder evidenzbasierte Studienergebnisse?
Gender Differences in Cognitive FunctionsPublication History
Publication Date:
11 July 2005 (online)
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Zusammenfassung
In den vergangenen Jahren wurden geschlechtsspezifische Unterschiede bei psychiatrischen Patienten sowohl im Bereich mentaler Fähigkeiten, aber auch in Krankheitsprävalenz und Krankheitsverlauf in zunehmenden Ausmaß auch in der wissenschaftlichen Literatur behandelt. Die bisherigen Ergebnisse sind aber sehr widersprüchlich, was auf verschiedene Einflussfaktoren, wie Geschlechtshormone, Stereotypien, Rollenidentifikation usw. zurückgeführt werden kann. In dieser Übersichtsarbeit wird die Literatur über kognitive Leistungsunterschiede zwischen Frauen und Männern zusammengefasst und verschiedene Erklärungsmodelle für diese Unterschiede diskutiert. Im zweiten Teil dieser Übersichtsarbeit wird ein Überblick über Forschungsergebnisse mit neuen bildgebenden Verfahren gegeben und die Ergebnisse kritisch diskutiert. Neuere Untersuchungsverfahren wie z. B. die funktionelle Magnetresonanztomographie (FMRT) spielen für die Erforschung dieser Fragestellung eine immer größere Rolle, da sich mit der FMRT eine exakte Lokalisation der Aktivität des menschlichen Gehirns bei verschiedenen kognitiven Funktionen und Aufgaben erreichen lässt.
Abstract
Gender differences in neuropsychological functioning of patients with psychiatric disorders have been studied extensively in the last years. The available studies provide conflicting results, which can be attributed to the complexity of variables influencing cognitive sex differences. In this article we review the literature about gender differences in cognitive functions in healthy men and women and discuss the relevance of hormones, socio-cultural factors, educational factors and training on the occurrence of these sex differences. Furthermore we summarize the results from functional MRI experiments, which is a useful tool for noninvasively localizing areas in the brain involved in specific cognitive functions.
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Mag. rer. nat. Dr. med. Elisabeth M. Weiss
Universitätsklinik für Psychiatrie, Abteilung für Allgemeine Psychiatrie · Medizinische Universität Innsbruck
Anichstraße 35
6020 Innsbruck
Österreich ·
Email: elisabeth.weiss@uibk.ac.at