From “Seven Deadly Sins: The Biology of Being Human” by Guy Leschziner
Until the age of five, boys and girls are equally at risk, but in adolescence and young adulthood, it is males who put themselves much more in harm’s way, with a doubled risk compared to females. Due to the anatomy and mechanics of the brain (a blow to the head puts shear stresses on particular areas of the brain, and bony protrusions around the base of the skull make some areas more liable to bruising or lacerations), the frontal regions are particularly vulnerable to damage. Even mild injuries can cause particular changes in thinking – problems of attention, impairment of inhibition, impulsiveness and poor social judgement.