语言加工性别差异的神经机制

Sex Differences in Language Processing and Its Neural Mechanisms

神经成像技术为语言加工的性别差异研究提供了新的手段和证据。研究者们从语言加工的词汇、句子、篇章理解和语言学习、再认和记忆等层面进行了大量的男女性脑功能差异研究。同时,语言加工的性别差异也从脑结构–生理基础差异方面进行了探讨,主要包括了灰质分布差异、胼胝体大小差异和荷尔蒙的影响。然而,语言加工是否有性别差异还存在争议,不同的研究者从加工时间要求、陈述性记忆差异和方法学考虑等方面对分歧做出了解释。

Sex differences in language processing are always the hot topic of linguistic and psychological research. The advent of neuroimaging techniques （including ERPs and fMRI） provided new techniques and produced new evidence in this area. A large number of studies have been devoted to functional differences across sexes in the phonological, orthographic and semantic processing at lexical level, sentence processing, passage processing and verbal learning and memory and so on. Moreover, Researchers also shed light on the influence of differences in grey matter distribution, the different size of corpus callosum and hormonal level variations on language processing between males and females. However, those studies reached different and even conflicting conclusions. The discrepancies in the literature have been explained by time demand of different tasks, female advantage on the declarative memory and different methodological consideration and so on. Although there have been considerable studies on sex differences in language processing, the topic still needs further exploration and explanation in the future.