视觉系统中的性别差异

大脑性别差异一直是神经科学领域中的一个热门话题.以前的性别差异研究往往关注与高级认知相关的脑区结构和功能差异,而对低级感知觉系统中的性别差异没有足够的重视.近年来,越来越多的研究结果表明,男性和女性在视知觉功能上也存在着明显的差异.本文首先回顾和梳理了视觉系统中存在性别差异的行为学和神经生物学证据,然后对视觉系统中性别差异的来源提出了两种可能的解释,接着讨论了视知觉功能存在性别差异的进化学意义,最后强调了在感知觉研究中把性别作为一个实验变量的的重要性,并对后续的性别差异研究提出了一些具体的建议.

Sex Differences in The Visual System

Sex differences in the brain have long been a hot topic in neuroscience. Previous studies on gender differences have focused on brain structures and functions related to higher-level cognition, but less attention has been paid to low-level sensory and perceptual systems. Recently, a growing number of studies have shown that men and women also show remarkable differences in visual processing. In this paper, we started by reviewing the behavioral and neural evidences supporting the notion of sex differences in the visual system. We then proposed two potential explanations and discussed the evolutionary benefits of sex differences in visual perception. Finally, we highlighted the importance of incorporating sex as a biological variable in visual neuroscience research, and offered a few suggestions for future studies on sex differences in the visual system.