The Male and Female Brain

Are the brains of men and women the same? …. NOPE!

NOTE: Most of this science and the “Male/Female Brain” theories have been debunked. However, it is still quite socially accepted that the sexes share different traits and thought-processes…. Just wait until you’re married ;)

Popular ‘Wisdom’...

Popular ‘Wisdom’...

Discover Your Brain’s SexYour brain has certain structures that identify you and your perception skills as “male” or “female”.

Brain Sex Test

1. You hear an indistinct meow. Without looking around, how well can you place the cat?

a) If you think about it, you can point to it.

b) You can point straight to it.

c) You don’t know if you can point to it.

2. How good are you at remembering a song you’ve just heard?a) You find it easy, and you can sing part of it in tune.b) You can do it only if it is simple and rhythmical.c) You find it difficult.

3. You’re with a group of married friends. Two of them are having an affair. Would you detect this?a) Nearly always.b) Half the time.c) Seldom.

Discover Your Brain’s SexBrain Sex Test

4. A person you’ve met a few times telephones you. How easy is it for you to recognize the voice in the few seconds before the person says his/her name?

a) You find it quite easy.

b) You recognize the voice at least half the time.

c) You recognize the voice less that half the time.

5. You’re introduced to five strangers at a large social gathering. If their names are mentioned the following day, how easy is it for you to picture their Facesa) You remember most ofb) You remember a few of them. c) You seldom remember

6. How easy for you is spelling and writing essays?a) Both are quite easy.b) One of them is easy.c) Neither is easy.

Discover Your Brain’s Sex

7. You spot a parking place, but you must back into it – and it’s going to be tight.

a) You look for another place.

b) You back into it – carefully.

c) You back into it without much thought.

8. You’ve spent three days in an unfamiliar town, and someone asks you which way is North.a) You’re unlikely to know.b) You’re unsure, but given a

moment you can work it out.c) You point North.

9. You’re in a dentist’s waiting room. How close can you sit to people of the same sex without feeling uncomfortable?a) Less than 15 cm. (6”). b) 15-60 cm. (6”- 24”) c) Over 60 cm. (24”).

10. You’re visiting with your new neighbour. There’s a tap dripping in the background. Otherwise the room is quiet. a) You notice the sound immediately and try to ignore it.b) If you notice it, you probably mention it.c) It doesn’t bother you at all.

Discover Your Brain’s SexScoring the Test

Males:For each (a) -- 10 pointsFor each (b) -- 5 pointsFor each (c) -- -5 points

Females:For each (a) -- 15 pointsFor each (b) -- 5 pointsFor each (c) -- -5 points

Unanswered questions – -5 points

Most males will score between 0 and 60. Most females will score between 50 and 100. The overlap (scores between 50-60) indicates a thought compatibility between the sexes.

Male score below 0 and female scores above 100 point to a brain very differently ‘wired’ from that of the opposite sex. Male scores above 60 may show a bias toward female mental attributes. Females who score below 50 may show a bias towards the male thought process.

Big Ideas

#1 Hormones like testosterone, estrogen and progesterone act on the neural pathways, permanently creating a male or female brain while in utero, depending on:

- HOW MUCH of the hormone, - WHEN the hormone was introduced, and - HOW LONG it lasted.

Note: Each brain is different and responds at different times to the hormones – though some scientists agree the brain is ‘sexed’ in the first 6-7 weeks after conception.

Big Ideas

#2 The brain’s ‘sex’ may differ from the baby’s genes and/or genitalia, thereby causing someone to feel “male” when their body looks female (or vice versa).

Note: This is not strictly about sexual orientation (e.g. heterosexual, homosexual, asexual etc.). It is possible for a person to have a different brain type than their sex organs or chromosomes dictate.

What are the implications of this for our definitions of masculinity and femininity?

Big Ideas

#3 After birth, parts of male and female brains develop at different rates:

- language acquisition is earlier for girls- spatial tasks are easier for little boys

How do you think this might make boys and girls feel about school, tasks, sports etc.?

#4 The actual male brain differs from the female brain; it is bigger and the hippocampus also tends to be slightly larger.

Some Facts...

Male Brains Larger brains

6.5x more grey matter

Larger frontal lobe (problem-solving, decision

making)

Larger parietal cortex (space perception)

Larger Amygdala (regulates sexual

behaviour)

Female Brains 10x more white

matter than male brains

Works faster than male brains

Larger Limbic cortex (regulates emotions)

12% more neurons

Seeing things Differently

Male Visual Processing

More “M” cells in the retina

- designed to detect motion

More sensitive toblack, gray, silver, and blue

Female Visual Processing

More “P” cells in the retina

- designed to process color and texture

More sensitive to red, orange, green, and beige

©Arlene Taylor PhD

Seeing things Differently

Male Vision Style

Tend to have a long-range, arrow, tunnel-vision style (e.g. hunters with built-in binoculars)

Pre-Wiring

More physically active Prewired to be more

interested in moving and in things that move

Female Vision Style

Tend to have a short-range, wider, peripheral visionstyle (e.g. gatherers)

Pre-Wiring

Less physically active overall

Prewired to be more interested in faces

©Arlene Taylor PhD

Seeing Things Differently

Male Vision - Benefits

May find it easier to locate items that are further away

(e.g. markers, signs, hunting quarry)

Female Vision - Benefits

Find it easier to locate items as their vision style takes in more of the immediate environment

(e.g., in cupboards, drawers, fridge)

Hearing Things Differently

Male Hearing

Tend to have less acute hearing overall

Hearing differencesbecome more pronouncedthroughout life (older men more likely to go deaf faster)

So... may miss softlyspoken words (may focus better when music isplaying in the background)

Female Hearing

Tend to have more acute hearing overall

Are more easily distracted by sounds in the environment

As early as age 11, tend to be distracted by noise levels that are about 10 times softer than the levels that boys find distracting

Hearing Things Differently

Male Hearing

Typically process:

- Male voices in Wernicke’s area, and - Female voices in the right hemisphere (* where melody lines of music are decoded)

Female Listening

Typically process speech sounds in Wernicke’s arealocated in the left hemisphere

Hearing Things Differently

Male Hearing

Uses primarily one brain hemisphere when listening

May miss nuances (e.g. warning tone in a female voice)

Female voices are more difficult for male brains to decode

May process female voices in the right hemisphere -- as a melody line of music

Female Listening

Uses both sides of the brain when listening to human voices

Picks up nuances in voice tonality and sounds (e.g., baby crying, moaning)

More on the Female Brain

Female brains are predisposed to excel in language, auditory skills, fine motor skills and attention to detail

The female brain is more decentralized than the male brain, using a variety of parts or locations for tasks

The female brain is more integrated, allowing both brain hemispheres to work together via a more developed corpus callosum (the brain’s bridge between left and right hemispheres)

In the female brain, thoughts and emotions are more complex, integrated and intertwined than in the male brain

10 Things about Male and Female The Male and Female Brains: 10 things

1. Men’s brains are larger but, as they age, they shrink faster than women’s brains

2. Women’s brains operate at a higher temperature, due to burning more glucose

3. Compared with men, women use more of their brains when they think

4. Matter Differences: These differences lead some researchers to believe that, in general, men may naturally excel at math while women tend to excel in areas like language

10 Things

5. Men tend to score an average of 4 to 5 points higher on intelligence tests (reported in the journal Intelligence)

6. The average man will think about sex as often as once a minute, while the average woman will think of sex much less often

7. Concerning a woman’s desire to talk, researchers have found that connecting with another through talking triggers the pleasure centers in a woman’s brain, a high second only to an orgasm

10 Things

8. Baby girls have been observed to typically have stronger reactions than boys to disturbing or distressful sounds

9. A 20 second hug will trigger the release of oxytocin in a woman’s brain. The effect of this chemical will often give the woman a feeling of trust in the person hugging her

10. Many scientists believes than men use fewer words/day than women. Depending upon who you believe (if any), this “word gap” can range from 1,000 to 10,000 words/day