Brain Differences: Genders
The brain is a monstrous, beautiful mess. Its billions of nerve cells - called neurons - lie in a tangled web that displays cognitive powers far exceeding any of the silicon machines we have built to mimic it.
Table of Contents
- Left brain Vs. Both hemispheres
- Spatial ability
- Mathematical abilities Vs. Verbal ability
- Hearing and visual ability
- Pain
- Emotions
- Aggression
- Susceptibility to disorders
- Test your knowledge
- References
- Email to Author
Many of us have heard, wondered and discussed about this complicated organ before. The brain and its distinctness in two of the genders possessed by mankind is a topic of exploration. Is there a difference between a male and a female brain? From a practical standpoint, no there is not. There are such greater differences between each individuals of both genders that there are no clear differences that characterize a man or a women.
Then why are we talking about this right now? Because there are few differences that can be noticed in average men and women. When we look at very large populations and look for slight but significant trends then some generalizations in each gender become visible.
For a simple introduction, it is safe to say that there are two general types of brain. These brains are called female differentiated and male differentiated brains because most (not all) females have the first and most males (not all) have the second.
| Did you know? Human male brains are, on average, approximately 10 % larger than female, but this is because of men's larger body size: more muscle cells imply more neurons to control them. |
Left brain Vs. Both hemispheres
Let us start from the hemispheres of our brain. Our problem-solving abilities depend mainly on a part of the brain called the cerebrum. The cerebrum is divided into two parts, called the left and right cerebral hemispheres. Men tend to process better in the left hemisphere of the brain while women tend to process equally well between the two hemispheres. This difference explains why men are generally stronger with left-brain activities and approach problem-solving from a task-oriented perspective while women typically solve problems more creatively and are more aware of feelings while communicating.Spatial ability
The area where the biggest differences have been found, lies in what scientists call "Spatial ability". Spatial ability is being able to picture things, their shape, position, geography and proportion accurately in the mind's eye - all skills that are crucial to the practical ability of working with three-dimensional objects or drawings. One scientist who has reviewed the extensive literature on the subject states, "The fact of the male's superiority in special ability is not in dispute". Hundreds of different scientific studies have confirmed it. Medical experts have discovered that women have a thicker parietal region of the brain, which hinders the ability to mentally rotate objects-an aspect of spatial ability. Research has shown this ability in babies as young as 5 months old, clearing any ideas of these abilities being strengthened by environmental influences.
| Did you know? Baby girls are more easily comforted by soothing words and singing. Even before they can understand language, girls seem to be better than boys at identifying the emotional content of speech. |
Mathematical abilities Vs. Verbal ability
An area of the brain called the inferior-parietal lobule (PILL) is typically and significantly larger in men, especially on the left side, than in women. This section of the brain is thought to control mental mathematical ability, and probably explains why men (in general) frequently perform higher in mathematical tasks than women do. Interestingly, this is the same area of Einstein's brain that was discovered to be abnormally large. While the male brain gives men the edge in dealing with things and theorems, the female brain is organized to respond more sensitively to all sensory stimuli. Women do better than men on tests of verbal ability. Females are equipped to receive a wider range of sensory information, to connect and relate that information with greater facility, to place a primacy on personal relationships, and to communicate. This advantage also allows women to focus on, "Specific stimuli, such as a baby crying in the night." Cultural influences may reinforce these strengths, but the advantages are existing from birth.
Other such differences are also apparent in the very first hours after birth. It has been shown that girl babies are much more interested than boys, in people and faces; the boys seem just as happy with an object dangled in front of them. Girls say their first words and learn to speak in short sentences earlier than boys do and are generally more fluent in their pre-school years. They start reading earlier, too, and do better in coping with the building blocks of language like grammar, punctuation and spelling. Boys outnumber girls 4:1 in remedial reading classes. Later, women find it easier to master foreign languages, and are more proficient in their own, with better command of grammar and spelling. They are also more fluent: stuttering and other speech defects occur almost exclusively among boys.
Hearing and visual ability
Usually, girls/women hear better than men. When the sexes are compared, women show a greater sensitivity to sound. The dripping tap will get the woman out of bed before the man has even woken up. Six times as many girls as boys can sing in tune. They are also more adept in noticing small changes in volume, which goes some way to explaining womens' superior sensitivity to that "tone of voice" which their male partners are so often accused of adopting. Men and women even see some things differently. Generally, women also see better in the dark. They are more sensitive to the red end of the spectrum, seeing more red hues there than men, and have a better visual memory. Men see better than women in bright light. Fascinating results also show that men tend to be literally blinkered meaning they see in a narrow field - mild tunnel vision - with greater concentration on depth. They have a better sense of perspective than women. Women however, quite literally take in the bigger picture. They have wider peripheral vision, because they have more of the receptor rods and cones in the retina, at the back of the eyeball, to receive a wider arc of visual input.