Brain Study May Explain Gender Differences Of Autism & Anxiety
Recent neurological research may determine why autism is significantly more prevalent in males, and anxiety in females.
Published in the journal PNAS, the recent neurological study sought in one respect to examine why women tend to be more affected by anxiety and depression.
Simultaneously, the research was conducted to understand why attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism are conditions that are more common among men.
Historical Background Of Mental Health & Gender
Assigning certain traits and conditions to a gender has been a human practice that has occurred for centuries.
Most notably, the perception that men belong in the public sphere and women in the household has allowed misogynistic ideals to persist across generations.
This fixation with gendering also became prevalent when it came to mental health – and started a trend that persists to this day.
Women of the Victorian era were commonly diagnosed with hysteria when, in fact, they suffered from a host of other mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety.
While women with postpartum depression, which occurs after the parent gives birth and relates to feelings of hopelessness, fatigue and an inability to bond with their newborn baby, have historically been treated with contempt by society.
On the other hand, men who have autistic tendencies are regularly othered in society and perceived as merely being unable to live up to masculine stereotypes.
This black-and-white assigning of mental health in terms of gender might not be as extreme and detrimental as it was in the days of Queen Victoria, but it still exists in 2024.
This mindset only helps to further complicate the questions looming over whether women and men are more prone to being diagnosed with certain mental health conditions.
Gendering Mental Health: Tangible Or Misconception?
It has been widely debated whether males are in fact more likely to have autism spectrum disorder (ASD), or if the statistics supporting greater numbers of male ASD diagnoses are merely down to females being underdiagnosed.
To complicate this scenario, there is the worrying prominence of girls who display ADHD and ASD symptoms being misunderstood as shy or uninterested.
Throughout history, males have been overrepresented regarding both human and animal research. As such, there are few studies that focus on determining sex-specific differences in brain structure.
This homogenisation of males and females when it comes to brain research has been problematic for neurologists.
Ryan D’Arcy, a professor who researches sex-specific differences in brain structure at the University of British Columbia, told Newsweek: “Brain imaging has historically largely collapsed females and males into the same sample, in spite of longstanding evidence that there are structural differences in female and male brains.”
“It is important to understand specific results for females and males separately for general knowledge and optimized health/medical treatments and interventions,” D’Arcy continued.
Previous studies have indicated that women are almost twice as likely to develop mood disorders and anxiety at some point.
While men are three times more likely to be diagnosed with ASD during their lifetime, as well as being twice as likely to receive an ADHD diagnosis.
Past research also determined that women are more prone to experiencing side effects upon taking medications such as antipsychotics and antidepressants.
The Brain Microstructure Research
Significantly, this new research focusing on differences in brain microstructure could explain these disparities among women and men.
Animal research has shown that these discrepancies potentially derive from differences in brain microstructure – which refers to the features, arrangements and concentration of different brain cells.
In order to determine whether these studies on animal brain microstructure are replicated in humans, neurological researchers from the United States and New Zealand analysed a multitude of MRI brain scan data.
This data came from more than 1,000 young adults, and highlighted notable disparities in the microscopic cellular structure in brain regions.
It is within these brain regions that our emotions, memory processing, mental health and decision-making can be impacted.
While the biochemical basis for such disparities is not wholly understandable, animal models have indicated that sex hormones such as estrogen and testosterone could be crucial components regarding brain development.
This is especially true when it comes to areas relating to processing emotions.
Though he was not directly involved in the study, D’Arcy’s insightful remarks certainly compliment the basis of the brain microstructure research: “Biological factors such as chromosomes and hormones most certainly are considerations, as are environmental factors that influence the organization of brain networks.”
A Life With Autism Made Easier?
It might still be early days, but this research is potentially groundbreaking in its pursuit of clarifying the neurological science behind gendered perceptions of conditions such as autism and anxiety.
In doing so, perhaps society can move forward from innately ignoring the signs of girls’ autistic tendencies, and of boys’ plights with anxiety.
Indeed, it may be that one’s environment, hormone levels, and chromosomes influence their likelihood to be affected by certain conditions.
In that sense, the individual’s sex can be a strong indicator of which signs a parent should more keenly observe during their adolescent years.
But if we are to perceive the impact of the neurological research in an even more productive manner, it might just lead to the taboos of gendered mental health and conditions being dismantled.
As sex-specific research becomes easier to understand and determine, boys will be able to confide more freely about their depressive episodes and anxiety.
Equally, girls will have their voices heard regarding their valid feelings of being on the autistic spectrum.
While it’s undeniable that a greater volume of research is necessary in order to substantiate these findings, the study nonetheless stresses how important it is to no longer approach mental health in such a uniformed manner.
In doing so, the research has been constructive in its pursuit of linking neurology with mental health trends and conditions, while remaining unbiased in its approach to gender-focused studies.
Confining people’s mental health struggles merely because of intangible gendered stereotypes does not make for a productive future.
Let’s hope for a future based around actually listening to people and validating their concerns and conditions.
