The Essential Difference: The Truth About the Male and Female Brain

by Baron-Cohen, Simon

• ISBN13: 9780738208442
• ISBN10: 0738208442
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-07-01
• Publisher: Perseus Books Group

Summary

We all appreciate that there are differences in the typical psychology of men and women. Yet underlying these subtle differences, Simon Baron-Cohen believes, there is oneessentialdifference, and it affects everything we do: Men have a tendency to analyze and construct systems while women are inclined to empathize. With fresh evidence for these claims, Baron-Cohen explores how these sex differences arise more from biological than cultural causes and shows us how each brain type contributes in various ways to what we think of as "intelligence." Emphasizing that not all men have the typically "male" brain, which he calls Type "S," and not all women have the typically female brain (Type "E"), Baron-Cohen explores the cutting-edge research that illuminates our individual differences and explains why a truly "balanced" brain is so rare. Filled with surprising and illuminating case studies, many from Baron-Cohen's own clinical practice,The Essential Differencemoves beyond the stereotypes to elucidate over twenty years of groundbreaking research. From gossip to aggression, Baron-Cohen dissects each brain type and even presents a new theory that autism (as well as its close relative, Asperger's syndrome) can be understood as an extreme form of the male brain. Smart and engaging, this is the thinking person's guide to gender difference, a book that promises to change the conversation about-and between-men and women.

Author Biography

Simon Baron-Cohen is Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at Cambridge University and co-director of its Autism Research Centre. He has carried out research into both autism and sex differences over a twenty-year career. He is the author of Autism: The Facts and Mindblindness.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
The Male and Female Brain	1	(12)
Boy Meets Girl	13	(8)
What Is Empathizing?	21	(8)
The Female Brain as Empathizer: The Evidence	29	(32)
What Is Systemizing?	61	(8)
The Male Brain as Systemizer: The Evidence	69	(16)
Culture	85	(10)
Biology	95	(22)
Evolution of the Male and Female Brain	117	(16)
Autism: The Extreme Male Brain	133	(22)
A Professor of Mathematics	155	(16)
The Extreme Female Brain: Back to the Future	171	(16)
Appendix 1: The ``Reading the Mind in the Eyes'' Test	187	(14)
Appendix 2: The Empathy Quotient (EQ)	201	(8)
Appendix 3: The Systemizing Quotient (SQ)	209	(8)
Appendix 4: The Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ)	217	(6)
References	223	(12)
Bibliography	235	(30)
Index	265