Neuroscience of Sex & Gender with Dr. Daphna Joel | The Life of Her Mind Ep. 4
Dr. Daphna Joel is Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University. Dr. Joel is a member of the School of Psychological Sciences and the Sagol School of Neuroscience.
After having completed her PhD in Psychobiology at Tel Aviv University in 1998, Dr. Joel received the Alon Fellowship for Young Scientists and then joined Tel Aviv University’s faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience.
Dr. Joel’s work focuses on the relations between sex, gender, and brain structure and function. She has published over 70 papers and is the author of Gender Mosaic: Beyond the Myth of the Male and Female Brain. One of Dr. Joel’s central findings is that there is a distinction between sex and gender. More specifically, Dr. Joel’s research reveals that our binary conceptualization of sex is illusory, even though biological sex is not. There is no “male” or “female” brain, which is distinct from the biology of sex.
The brain is a “mosaic” of features that do not fall neatly into our existing binary conceptual categories for sex. Some features may be common in males, others in females, and others still common to both. The extent to which genitalia distinctions carry into human biology is unknown, but Dr. Joel’s findings show that various gender characteristics, such as behavior, personality, and cognition, are not dimorphic.
Learn More about the Gender Mosaic Project and fill out the Questionnaire here: [ Ссылка ]
About the series:
The Life of Her Mind is dedicated to learning about how these women think — how they think about their careers, disciplines, and future. Each episode focuses on a single professional working in or around the sciences, with an eye toward uncovering what makes each individual’s contributions unique.
The series is hosted by Labroots Science Writer Mia Wood, Ph.D., a philosophy professor and writer living and working at the intersection of philosophy and everything else. Among her relevant interests are the philosophy of early modern science, the nature of consciousness, and personal identity.
