Sex differences in the human visual system

Abstract

This Mini-Review summarizes a wide range of sex differences in the human visual system, with a primary focus on sex differences in visual perception and its neural basis. We highlight sex differences in both basic and high-level visual processing, with evidence from behavioral, neurophysiological, and neuroimaging studies. We argue that sex differences in human visual processing, no matter how small or subtle, support the view that females and males truly see the world differently. We acknowledge some of the controversy regarding sex differences in human vision and propose that such controversy should be interpreted as a source of motivation for continued efforts to assess the validity and reliability of published sex differences and for continued research on sex differences in human vision and the nervous system in general. V C 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Sex-related differences in vision are heterogeneous

“…Abramov and colleagues 16 (n = 52) found that males outperformed females in all spatial frequencies, whereas Solberg and Brown 30 (n = 40) found no sex differences in contrast sensitivity for all spatial frequencies. As Vanston and Strother 17 point it out, these mixed results might be explained by methodological differences, and as we would like to add, also because of low statistical power. In one large study 31 (n = 826), visual acuity was measured across the entire age range (5 to 92 years old), and sex differences were found only for children of 5 years old.…”

“…This study had only 52 participants, of which 16 were males. Other studies on visual acuity 23 , 24 , contrast sensitivity 16 , 18 , 25 , motion perception 26 , 27 and slant estimation 28 , 29 had also a limited number of participants and showed mixed results (for a review, see 17 ). For example, Brabyn and McGuinness 25 (n = 39) found that females had higher contrast sensitivity for low spatial frequencies and males had higher contrast sensitivity for high spatial frequencies.…”

Visual evoked potentials: Normative values from healthy Senegalese adults

“…Kaneda, et al [14] postulated that the sex differences in VEP may be attributed to genetically determined sex differences in neuro-endocrinological systems. In short, sex differences in the human visual system, although controversial, are undeniable [15]. Additional investigation of sex differences in the human visual system would contribute to con irm that.…”

Strategy Shift Toward Lower Spatial Frequencies in the Recognition of Dynamic Facial Expressions of Basic Emotions: When It Moves It Is Different

“…It should also be mentioned that the samples for both studies were unbalanced with regard to gender. Although there is no clear evidence to suggest that sensitivity to motion differs between females and males (Vanston and Strother, 2017), some anatomical and functional differences have been found in regions of the visual cortex known for motion processing (Amunts et al, 2007; Anderson et al, 2013). Moreover, visual acuity has systematically been shown to be better in males (Burg, 1966; McGuinness, 1976; Ishigaki and Miyao, 1994; Abramov et al, 2012), and males also exhibit higher contrast sensitivity across the entire spatiotemporal domain, especially at higher SFs (Abramov et al, 2012).…”