A study from Stanford University in the USA suggests that very stressful events affect the brains of boys and girls in different ways. Researchers say that girls suffer more after traumatic events and are more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). They also say that because of this, girls and boys should be treated differently by doctors during the recovery process from PTSD. Lead researcher Dr Megan Klabunde said: "It is important that people who work with traumatised youth consider the sex differences. Our findings suggest it is possible that boys and girls could exhibit different trauma symptoms and that they might benefit from different approaches to treatment."

来自美国斯坦福大学一项研究表明，非常有压力的事件对男孩和女孩的大脑有着不同的影响。研究人员表示，创伤性事件过后，女孩遭受更多痛苦，更有可能患上创伤后应激障碍(PTSD)。他们还说，鉴于这个原因，在PTSD的恢复过程中，医生应该对男孩和女孩采取不同的治疗方法。首席研究人员Megan Klabunde表示：“对经历创伤的青少年进行治疗的医生应该考虑性别差异，这一点非常重要。我们的发现表明，男孩和女孩表现出不同的创伤征兆，他们或许能够从不同的治疗方法中获益。”

The research focused on a part of the brain that deals with emotions and empathy, called the insula. The smaller the insula, the more likely it is that someone will suffer from PTSD. Researchers discovered that the insula was particularly small in girls who had gone through a traumatic event. It was larger than usual in boys who had experienced a distressing, shocking or frightening event. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental disorder that can develop after traumatic events, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, or threats on a person's life. Symptoms may include disturbing or suicidal thoughts, nightmares related to the events, and alterations to how a person thinks and feels.

这项研究集中关注了大脑处理情感和移情的部位，脑岛。脑岛越小，患上PTSD的可能性越大。研究人员发现，曾经经历创伤事件的女孩的脑岛特别小。而经历过痛苦，震惊或恐吓性事件的男孩的脑岛则比平常更大。创伤后应激障碍是遭遇创伤事件后患上的一种精神疾病，比如性侵，战争，交通事故或者生命安全受到威胁。症状包括思维混乱，有自杀倾向，与这些事件有关的噩梦，想法和感觉发生改变。