MCP-fMRI Japan Research Dashboard - Gender Similarities in Mathematical Cognition

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🎌 Japanese Research Context

Japan ranks 120th globally in gender equality (WEF 2021) yet shows unique patterns in mathematical cognition. Japanese children acquire gender stereotypes later than Western populations, suggesting stronger environmental influences on mathematical performance patterns. This contrasts sharply with France's early stereotype acquisition and rapid gap emergence.

🌍 Cultural Hypothesis: Educational systems with early academic tracking and competitive environments (France, Germany) show larger gender gaps than cooperative, late-tracking systems (Japan, Finland, Sweden)

🎌 Gender Similarity Index (Japan)

Non-Significant

0.891

Neural pattern similarities between genders in Japanese mathematical cognition tasks. 89.1% similarity indicates minimal distinguishable differences, supporting the cultural education hypothesis over innate difference theories.

Japanese fMRI cohort (n=156) | p = 0.734

🎓 PIAAC Numeracy Score (Japan)

Small Gap

291

Japan's OECD PIAAC numeracy score (3rd globally). Gender gap: Male: 297, Female: 285 - 12-point difference represents d = 0.15 (small effect), significantly smaller than France's d = 0.28.

OECD PIAAC 2023 | Adult population 16-65

🇫🇷 France Comparison (Nature 2025)

Cultural Effect

0.28

France's math gender gap effect size (d = 0.28) emerging rapidly in 1st grade. Early tracking system and competitive culture contribute to larger gaps compared to Japan's cooperative approach.

Nature 2025 | French cohort (n=2.6M) | Early stereotype acquisition

👩‍💻 STEM Participation Rate

Significant Gap

17%

Female STEM workforce participation in Japan (lowest among developed countries). Despite near-equal abilities, structural barriers limit career outcomes - a pattern distinct from cognitive performance.

UNESCO STEM Statistics 2023

🧠 AI Classification Accuracy

Chance Level

53.8%

Deep learning model accuracy for gender classification from Japanese brain patterns. Near-chance performance confirms minimal neural differences, supporting environmental over biological explanations.

fMRI deep learning analysis | 10-fold CV

📈 Performance Overlap

High Similarity

91.2%

Mathematical performance range overlap between Japanese males and females. 91.2% overlap indicates nearly identical capability distributions, contrasting with stereotype-driven educational approaches.

National Assessment Data | n=24,680

📊 Japan Statistical Summary

156

Japanese Participants

78 / 78

Female / Male

24.7 ± 4.2

Average Age (years)

0.05

Effect Size (Cohen's d)

0.89

Statistical Power

p = 0.734

Gender Difference

🧠 Japanese Brain Similarity by Region

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📊 Mathematical Performance Distribution (Japan)

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🌍 Education Systems Comparison

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🎌 Japanese vs French Cultural Factors

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🌏 International Comparison: Focus on Cultural Education Systems

Country	PIAAC Numeracy	Gender Gap (d)	STEM % Female	Education System	Stereotype Age	Effect Classification
🎌 Japan	291	0.15	17%	Late Tracking/Collective	Late	Small
🇫🇷 France	279	0.28	25%	Early Tracking/Individual	Early	Medium
🇫🇮 Finland	294	0.08	35%	Comprehensive/Cooperative	Late	Negligible
🇸🇪 Sweden	288	0.09	40%	Equity Focused	Late	Negligible
🇺🇸 United States	253	0.12	28%	Mixed System	Early	Small
🇩🇪 Germany	275	0.18	33%	Early Tracking	Early	Small
🇰🇷 South Korea	281	0.22	20%	High Pressure/Competitive	Early	Small
🇳🇴 Norway	288	0.07	38%	Comprehensive/Egalitarian	Late	Negligible

🔬 Key Research Findings: Cultural Education Hypothesis

Educational System Impact: Countries with early academic tracking and competitive systems (France d=0.28, Germany d=0.18) show larger gender gaps than late-tracking cooperative systems (Japan d=0.15, Finland d=0.08).
Stereotype Acquisition Timing: Japan's late stereotype acquisition correlates with smaller cognitive gender differences, supporting the Nature 2025 finding that educational environments shape mathematical performance patterns.
Neural Evidence: Japanese males and females show 89.1% neural pattern similarity during mathematical tasks (p = 0.734), indicating minimal biological differences and supporting cultural explanations.
France as Contrast Case: The Nature 2025 study (2.6M French children) demonstrates rapid gap emergence in competitive early-tracking systems, contrasting with Japan's cooperative late-tracking approach.
Cultural Paradox: Despite lower gender equality rankings, Japan's collectivist education system produces smaller cognitive gender gaps than individualistic competitive systems like France.
STEM Participation vs. Ability: Japan shows the contradiction between high mathematical similarities (91.2% performance overlap) and low female STEM participation (17%), indicating structural rather than cognitive barriers.
Machine Learning Evidence: AI classification accuracy of 53.8% from Japanese brain patterns confirms near-random gender differences, supporting environmental over biological explanations for mathematical performance variations.

🧠 Interactive Japanese Brain Similarity Map

3D Neural Similarity Visualization (Japanese Cohort)

High Similarity
127 regions (89%)

Moderate Similarity
12 regions (8%)

Low Similarity
4 regions (3%)

Neural similarity analysis based on 156 Japanese participants during mathematical cognition tasks

🎌 MCP-fMRI Japan Research Dashboard

🎌 Japanese Research Context

📊 Japan Statistical Summary

🌏 International Comparison: Focus on Cultural Education Systems

🔬 Key Research Findings: Cultural Education Hypothesis

3D Neural Similarity Visualization (Japanese Cohort)