the hypothalamus and behavioral gender differences

university of virginia researchers have found more evidence for the nature side of the nature vs. nurture debate. research on mice found

evidence that an estrogen receptor in the hypothalamus called ERb regulates defeminization, a process by which males lose the ability to display female-type behavior in adulthood. Defeminization is believed by many experts to be the main neurological process that differentiates males and females before birth.

researchers hypothesize that the receptor acts to turn on and off other genes that determine critical neural structure. the political war on whether behavioral differences between men and women are largely social or biological may be resolved not in women's studies programs, but the laboratory.

more on the neurological differences between men and women.

via world of psychology