Sex-related differences in vision are heterogeneous
Abstract Despite well-established sex differences for cognition, audition, and somatosensation, few studies have investigated whether there are also sex differences in visual perception. We report the results of fifteen perceptual measures (such as visual acuity, visual backward masking, contrast de...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2018-05-01
|
| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-25298-8 |
| _version_ | 1818841595517075456 |
|---|---|
| author | Albulena Shaqiri Maya Roinishvili Lukasz Grzeczkowski Eka Chkonia Karin Pilz Christine Mohr Andreas Brand Marina Kunchulia Michael H. Herzog |
| author_facet | Albulena Shaqiri Maya Roinishvili Lukasz Grzeczkowski Eka Chkonia Karin Pilz Christine Mohr Andreas Brand Marina Kunchulia Michael H. Herzog |
| author_sort | Albulena Shaqiri |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Despite well-established sex differences for cognition, audition, and somatosensation, few studies have investigated whether there are also sex differences in visual perception. We report the results of fifteen perceptual measures (such as visual acuity, visual backward masking, contrast detection threshold or motion detection) for a cohort of over 800 participants. On six of the fifteen tests, males significantly outperformed females. On no test did females significantly outperform males. Given this heterogeneity of the sex effects, it is unlikely that the sex differences are due to any single mechanism. A practical consequence of the results is that it is important to control for sex in vision research, and that findings of sex differences for cognitive measures using visually based tasks should confirm that their results cannot be explained by baseline sex differences in visual perception. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T04:28:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-df9114ce0a324d1cabebca4de755613c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T04:28:35Z |
| publishDate | 2018-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-df9114ce0a324d1cabebca4de755613c2022-12-21T20:35:58ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222018-05-018111010.1038/s41598-018-25298-8Sex-related differences in vision are heterogeneousAlbulena Shaqiri0Maya Roinishvili1Lukasz Grzeczkowski2Eka Chkonia3Karin Pilz4Christine Mohr5Andreas Brand6Marina Kunchulia7Michael H. Herzog8Laboratory of Psychophysics, Brain Mind Institute, EPFLLaboratory of Vision Physiology, Ivane Beritashvili Center of Experimental BiomedicineLudwig-Maximilan University of MunichInstitute of Cognitive Neurosciences, Free University of TbilisiSchool of Psychology, University of AberdeenInstitute of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Bâtiment Geopolis, Quartier MoulineInstitute for Psychology and Cognition Research, University of BremenLaboratory of Vision Physiology, Ivane Beritashvili Center of Experimental BiomedicineLaboratory of Psychophysics, Brain Mind Institute, EPFLAbstract Despite well-established sex differences for cognition, audition, and somatosensation, few studies have investigated whether there are also sex differences in visual perception. We report the results of fifteen perceptual measures (such as visual acuity, visual backward masking, contrast detection threshold or motion detection) for a cohort of over 800 participants. On six of the fifteen tests, males significantly outperformed females. On no test did females significantly outperform males. Given this heterogeneity of the sex effects, it is unlikely that the sex differences are due to any single mechanism. A practical consequence of the results is that it is important to control for sex in vision research, and that findings of sex differences for cognitive measures using visually based tasks should confirm that their results cannot be explained by baseline sex differences in visual perception.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-25298-8 |
| spellingShingle | Albulena Shaqiri Maya Roinishvili Lukasz Grzeczkowski Eka Chkonia Karin Pilz Christine Mohr Andreas Brand Marina Kunchulia Michael H. Herzog Sex-related differences in vision are heterogeneous Scientific Reports |
| title | Sex-related differences in vision are heterogeneous |
| title_full | Sex-related differences in vision are heterogeneous |
| title_fullStr | Sex-related differences in vision are heterogeneous |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sex-related differences in vision are heterogeneous |
| title_short | Sex-related differences in vision are heterogeneous |
| title_sort | sex related differences in vision are heterogeneous |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-25298-8 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT albulenashaqiri sexrelateddifferencesinvisionareheterogeneous AT mayaroinishvili sexrelateddifferencesinvisionareheterogeneous AT lukaszgrzeczkowski sexrelateddifferencesinvisionareheterogeneous AT ekachkonia sexrelateddifferencesinvisionareheterogeneous AT karinpilz sexrelateddifferencesinvisionareheterogeneous AT christinemohr sexrelateddifferencesinvisionareheterogeneous AT andreasbrand sexrelateddifferencesinvisionareheterogeneous AT marinakunchulia sexrelateddifferencesinvisionareheterogeneous AT michaelhherzog sexrelateddifferencesinvisionareheterogeneous |