Is your brain male or female?.

Presented by Alice Roberts and Michael Mosley, this programme investigates whether or not there is really a difference between male and female brains and, if so, are the differences between the sexes the result of nature or nurture? A group of both sexes are put through a series of spatial cognition tests and it showed that the men were more successful at these than the women. When it came to tests which involved reading emotions, the women scored the highest results. Mosley believes people are born with these differences whilst Roberts feels they are learned. Mosley looks at how monkeys respond to different toys - the females were drawn to the dolls whilst the males were fascinated by trucks and cars and barely noticed the dolls. Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, an expert in autistic spectrum disorders, believes that hormones in the womb affect the development of the brain in such a way as to alter cognitive behaviour after birth, particularly in relation to systemising. The higher the child's pre-natal testosterone seems to be related to the speed at which social skills develop and their ability to solve cognitive puzzles etc. Detailed MRI scans of male and female brains show very different patterns of neuronal activity which might explain certain stereotypes such as women being better at multi-tasking. Roberts explores how gender stereotypes are perhaps more ingrained than we think and she undergoes an experiment to test pain thresholds in men and women. Studies into the way strokes affect men and women's brains differently may help in the treatment of strokes by providing more effective gender specific treatments.