Gender and stress 67 3

in the patterns of cellular activity and neuronal plasticity in response to repeated stress “Experience has shown that science frequently develops most fruitfully once we learn to examine the things that seem the simplest, instead of those that seem the most mysterious” Marvin Minsky Gender and stress 68 Stress and psychopathology: is gender an issue? Ovarian steroids produce a variety of neurochemical effects which affect multiple processes such as cognition, emotional regulation, affective style, pain sensitivity and psychopathology 1-3. Gender-related differences in the brain however, account for more than merely sex disparities in the effects of sex hormones. Reproductive as well as nonreproductive dimorphisms exist between men and women and it is intriguing to assume that non-reproductive, gender-related cognitive and emotional dissimilaritie