Table of Contents
Introduction 1
On being the owner and operator of a woman's brain 1
Where is all the women's health neuroscience research? 3
How different are the differences between male and female brains? 7
Nature, nurture or neuroplasticity? 11
Your plastic mosaic brain 12
A disclaimer 13
1 In Utero 17
The Great Sperm Race 17
Implanting the egg 18
The case of the neural tube is not yet closed 19
You were destined to be female 20
Ovaries develop in the absence of the Y male chromosome 22
Sex hormones organise reproductive regions of the prenatal brain 24
What is the role of oestrogen in female brain development? 25
Joining the dots from brain to behaviour 25
How to build a brain 28
The birth of new brain cells 30
Zika virus disrupts brain cell migration 32
Half of all neurons are born to die 33
Molecules guide axons to their targets 34
Synapses are miniature zones of communication 35
Use it or lose it 35
The first 1000 days of brain development 36
Worrying about worry 36
The Montreal ice Storm Study 37
A newborn brain is a rough draft ready for editing 39
2 Childhood 40
Brain development from birth to adulthood 41
Taking a closer look at white and grey matter 42
Brain architecture is built by early experiences 45
Young brains are plastic brains 45
Opening and closing sensitive periods 47
Language acquisition in children - from universalist to specialist 48
Deprivation during the first year - a critical period for language 51
Toxic stress in childhood leaves lasting effects on the brain 53
Another 'natural experiment' - the Christchurch earthquakes 54
Are resilient children born or made? 57
Experiences of gender 57
Boys and girls go out to play 58
Hormones and the 'mini puberty' of infancy 60
Gender stereotypes begin before birth 61
Why do expectations of gender matter? 63
What do growing brains need to thrive? 64
3 Puberty 67
First puberty 69
The HPO axis - how the brain and body talk puberty 71
Awakening the biological clock 72
Awakening the clock with a genetic KISS 74
Is puberty starting at younger ages? 76
What are the causes of early-but-normal puberty? 77
Mood changes at puberty 79
Normal moods or a mental health problem? 81
How does puberty shape the brain? 82
4 The Menstrual Cycle 83
Our personal monthly neuroscience experiment 84
Attitudes to menstruation matter 85
The neural control of menstruation 85
How do hormones get inside the brain? 87
Imaging the effects of hormones on the brain 88
Does the menstrual cycle change how we feel? 89
Does the menstrual cycle change how we think? 90
PMS, mood and the menstrual cycle 93
Is PMS a modern-day myth? 94
Premenstrual Dysmorphic Disorder 98
Does the pill cause depression? 99
What happens to your brain on the pill? 102
5 The Teenage Brain 106
Halfway between girlhood and womanhood 107
The stereotype of the teenage brain is wrong 108
The teenage brain is still undergoing development 109
Grey matter thins as connections are refined 110
More white matter enables faster communication 111
Subcortical brain areas shrink and grow 111
The social brain develops during adolescence 112
Teenage brains join a new tribe 112
The painful consequences of being left out 113
Why does rejection hurt so badly? 115
The 'emotional adolescent' is developmentally normal 116
Learning to regulate emotions 117
Is mental illness emotional development gone wrong? 118
Risk-taking and the mismatch between thinking and feeling 119
Do girls take risks? 120
The imaginary audience - who is watching me? 121
Adolescence is a unique window of opportunity for education 123
6 Depression and Anxiety 125
Why is there a gender gap in depression and anxiety? 127
Depression - the basics 128
Anxiety - the basics 129
Enduring mental wellbeing is rare 130
What does a depressed brain look like? 133
Do depressed brains work differently from healthy brains? 135
Is depression caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain? 136
Is there a gene for depression? 139
Is the depression gender gap due to sex hormones? 141
Oestrogen may improve mood 141
Progesterone may exacerbate anxiety and PTSD 142
The inner mean girl 146
Depression is a stress-related disorder 147
How does a stressful event get under our skin? 147
The neurobiology of stress 148
Is depression due to inflammation? 150
Stress and gender issues 152
You're depressed or anxious - now what? 153
Not all treatments work for all people all of the time 153
7 Sex, Love and Neurobiology 155
Adolescence is a sensitive period for learning about sex 156
The alchemy of attraction 157
How hormones influence mate choice and sex drive 159
Feeling frisky on oestrogen 160
Let's talk about sexual response cycles 161
Turning on the 'ONs' and turning off the 'OFFs' 163
Where are the brain's ON and OFF switches? 164
Can drugs be used to hit the sexual accelerator or brake? 165
Testosterone - does it really boost libido in women? 166
Mating in captivity - are you just bored? 168
Sexual orientation and the brain 169
The neurobiology of orgasms 171
This is her brain during orgasm 173
The neurobiology of multiple orgasms 175
Are female orgasms just a happy accident? 176
Can we become addicted to love? 177
Oxytocin - one molecule to love and bond us all? 178
Oxytocin - what we've learned from the monogamous prairie vole 179
Social support buffers stress because of oxytocin 181
Is oxytocin the new love potion? 182
8 Pregnancy and Motherhood 185
Pregnancy leads to long-lasting changes in women's brains 186
The expectant rodent brain 190
Your expectant brain and hormones of pregnancy 192
Prolactin - the quintessential hormone of pregnancy and parenting 194
Prolactin, hunger and resisting the urge to eat for two 195
Pregnant women are less reactive to stress 197
Is 'baby brain' a myth? 199
Are labour pains needed for brain gains? 204
This is why babies cry 206
This is your brain on breastfeeding 208
Breastfeeding and the neural control of fertility 211
Depression and motherhood 212
The baby blues 213
Depression and the myths of motherhood 214
Once a mother, always a mother 215
9 Menopause 217
A quick guide to the stages of menopause 219
Why do we go through menopause? 221
Are your menopause symptoms all in your head? 222
This is your brain on hot flashes 223
Hormones warm us up and cool us down 225
This is your brain on disrupted sleep 226
A quick guide to the neurobiology of sleep 227
Sex differences in sleep 228
Which comes first - hormones, hot flashes or sleep problems? 231
This is your brain on the menopausal blues 232
This is your brain on 'brain fog' 233
Is it 'brain fog' or dementia? 235
Will you 'suffer' or 'sail' through menopause? 236
Hormone therapy for menopause 238
A quick history of HRT 238
Fear, loathing and women's health studies 240
Weighing up the risks and benefits of HRT 243
Does HRT cause or prevent dementia? 246
Mind the gap of midlife 248
10 The Ageing Brain 249
Uncovering the secrets of exceptional longevity 251
Are the exceptionally old also exceptionally happy and healthy? 255
Predicting who will reach 100 257
Why do women live longer than men? 260
The influence of biological sex on the lifespan 262
The influence of reproductive history on the lifespan 263
Is dementia a women's brain health problem? 266
Dementia - humanity's brain health problem 267
What is dementia? How does it differ from Alzheimer's disease? 269
Memory loss with ageing is normal 270
Stuck in the moment with dementia 271
Taking a closer look at the ageing brain 273
Proof of principle - using lifestyle change to slow disease 275
How to nurture a healthy brain for life 278
The best exercise for your brain is physical exercise 279
What type of physical exercise is best? 279
Eat real food, not too much, mostly plants 279
Get more sleep 281
Challenge your mind 281
Find your place or moment of calm 282
Connect with family and friends 283
Seek out meaning and purpose 283
Is it ever too late to hope for change? 284
Acknowledgements 287
Notes 289
