My daughter sent this URL:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/hs/20001108/hl/males_learn_better_under_stress_1.html
I assume that "stress" means some kind of conflict.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" begin quote """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""
"Estrogens are more than just reproductive hormones," says Bruce McEwen, head of the laboratory of neuroendocrinology at Rockefeller University in New York City. "They are present in both genders, and they work in many places in the brain -- in the hypothalamus, in the cerebellum, in the hippocampus -- where they affect a variety of brain functions, including attention and memory.
McEwen, reporting today on the effects of estrogen on learning and memory
ยทยทยท
at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in New Orleans, says that new research into rats shows a clear difference between how males and females learn.
"Professor Tracey Shors from Rutgers University shows that males learn better under acute stress, while chronically stressed males show cognitive impairment," McEwen says. "But females might be more resilient under chronically stressed situations." Shors is the lead researcher on the study.
Shors stressed out male and female rats for 30 minutes at a time and then taught them a new task. She then evaluated how well the rats did on the tasks 24 hours later.
"She found that exposure to a short stressful experience enhances the formation of new memories in male rats, while exposure to the very same experience dramatically impairs formation of these memories in the female rat," McEwen explains. She also found that body chemistry affects what stress does to memory and learning. In the male rats, the stress effect on learning depends on stress hormones like glucocorticoids, while in female rats it depends on estrogen, he says.
But female rats performed better than males when they were unstressed, Shors points out in her study. They did particularly well at tasks right before ovulation, when estrogen levels are higher, and females are more active.
The difference on how these hormones work in the brain could be a result of evolution, McEwen suggests. "While it's difficult to interpret these findings in human terms, the following scenario could prevail. Females respond to nonlife-threatening challenges by being more nurturing than males, who tend to be competitive. From the point of view of reproduction, learning and remembering quickly could be a gold standard for survival." Chemical differences in the brain could also help animals hunt better. "Remembering during the stress of hunting is a useful evolutionary adaptation," he adds.
McEwen says the new research may ultimately lead to giving hormone replacement to men as well as women to stave off the mental decline of old age. "Giving males testosterone, which converts to estradiol, the male form of estrogen, may be a strategy," McEwen says. "Men may gain some of the same benefits as giving estrogens to women after menopause, though it's still very early in the research."
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" end quote """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""