How the male brain really differs from the female brain. How the female brain differs from the male brain Comparison of the male and female brains

It so happens that the gender war has been going on for thousands of years, but women have been the vanquished for almost all this time. The revered ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle encouraged men to treat the opposite sex as a vice. Christians blamed all women for the Fall, and the founder of Protestantism, Martin Luther, once said that girls develop faster than boys “because weeds grow faster than grain.” In the 19th century, women finally gained access to university education, but it was around this time that the phrase "chicken brains" emerged, applying exclusively to the fairer sex. It would seem that in the 21st century prejudices regarding the inferiority of the female brain and mental abilities should disappear, but, alas, this did not happen. And in the summer of 2017, a Google employee became involved in a scandal and subsequent dismissal, declaring that it is more difficult for women to become IT specialists due to biological characteristics.

Scientists have proven that there is indeed a difference between male and female brains, but it does not make one gender better or worse.

The result of numerous studies has been an interesting fact: biological sex does not always determine the sex of the brain. Functions characteristic of a man may predominate in a woman's brain, and vice versa, a balance may be maintained between typically male or female characteristics.

More is not better

Size is the first thing that distinguishes a man's brain from a woman's, but it is not something that representatives of the stronger half of humanity should be proud of. Greater gray matter volume (by about 8-13%) is associated with larger physiques in men, but is not in any way an indicator of superior intelligence. The thinking abilities of girls do not suffer from a smaller brain mass, because their neurons are denser.

The sizes of some brain areas also differ depending on gender. The areas of the frontal lobe of the brain that are active during decision making are slightly larger in women. But in the male brain, the parietal part of the cortex and the amygdala are enlarged. What does this mean in practice? This structure leads to women's ability to multitask and men's ability to better navigate space and sense danger. These differences are easily explained by the evolutionary process: mothers had to simultaneously look after their children and run the household, and fathers had to get food by hunting.

Pregnancy has a special effect on a woman's brain. Starting from the third trimester and ending six months after the birth of the child, the organ decreases in size. However, such changes do not make the expectant or nursing mother stupider, the brain simply begins to work differently:

areas responsible for the functioning of the sensory organs increase;
the amygdala, which is responsible for fear and anxiety, becomes larger;
The hypothalamus, which regulates the menstrual cycle, loses activity.

You can't talk without being silent

We specifically wrote this phrase without punctuation. This is one of the differences between male and female brains, namely verbal abilities. It is believed that women talk more than men. However, this does not at all indicate that girls have nothing to occupy themselves with except talking; communication is simply an important part of life for them. The difference between the communication abilities of boys and girls is laid down during the period of intrauterine development. Testosterone in male fetuses slows the growth of the left hemisphere, which is responsible for verbal skills, which promotes the development of the right hemisphere, which is responsible for visuospatial functions. This is why women are better at using words, and men are better at navigating the terrain.

In the fair sex, verbal information is processed with the participation of both hemispheres, while in men - with the help of one. Therefore, women recover more easily from speech disorders, for example, those resulting from a stroke.

Who said men don't cry? During preschool age, little boys are more likely to cry and scream because they are simply less able to articulate their thoughts and emotions in words than their peers. They show less inclination to communicate even in adolescence, but teenage girls become simply hyper-sociable. This is how the female brain reacts to the release of stress hormones.

On emotions

It is believed that women are more emotional, while men are balanced and do not show their feelings. However, examples from life do not allow us to consider this an axiom. Just look at the stands during sports competitions.

There are indeed differences in the emotional sphere between the brains of men and women. This is clearly expressed, for example, in the reaction to stress. The male half of humanity remembers the essence of emotions, and the female half remembers the details. After a difficult mental event, men prefer to be alone. The female brain, in a situation of stress, activates the system responsible for attachment, so young ladies seek consolation from loved ones.

The innate tendency to notice the slightest changes in the emotions and behavior of other people is transformed into the so-called female intuition. Therefore, a girl, even if she finds herself in an unfamiliar company, will most likely determine the relationship of those present with each other: who is whose friend, lover, etc. But a man will correctly read the emotions on the faces only of people of the same sex.

The tendency to worry can play a cruel joke on women: according to statistics, women are twice as likely to suffer from depression.

Maiden memory

In fact, women's memory is longer lasting due to a lobe of the hippocampus that is less active in men. It’s not for nothing that they say that a woman forgives insults, but does not forget. However, with age, statistics testify in favor of the opposite sex – a man’s brain is better able to resist dementia. With Alzheimer's disease, mental decline occurs faster in women, and they die from this disease more often. The difference between the male brain and the female brain in this regard is determined by sex hormones. Estrogen levels decline faster during menopause than men's testosterone levels.

The vicissitudes of love

No matter how much we talk about matters of the heart, choosing a partner is the work of the brain. A study involving representatives of 37 cultures proved that the criteria for choosing a life partner have not changed for thousands of years.

For a man, the attractiveness of a partner is determined by the visual system. If he sees clear skin, thick hair, full lips and an hourglass figure, the brain will definitely approve of the picture with the release of testosterone.

The female brain is structured differently and reacts not only to appearance, but also calculates personal qualities. The question that is offensive to men about the type of their activity (earnings) is quite correct from the point of view of female nature: for young ladies it is important that their partner is able to provide for future children. Girls will take an interest in the financial situation of a potential chosen one, even if they are not currently focused on motherhood.

Knowledge is power

Scientists continue to find differences between the brains of men and women. The results of research and experiments are not just interesting information, but also a reason to improve interaction between the sexes. The difference in the mental and emotional sphere is just a fact that needs to be accepted as a given and stop the battle of the sexes. Knowledge about the differences in the brain activity of men and women can help in raising children, married life and business relationships. For example, parents will not scold boys for crying and girls for being talkative, husbands will recognize the presence of women’s intuition, and company managers will stop preventing female employees from moving up the career ladder.

Women often complain that men do not understand them. Representatives of the stronger sex often make similar claims. Both of them usually consider the reason to be that their partner’s attitude is not good enough. According to experts, this is not the reason at all, but that the brain of a man and the brain of a woman work so differently that difficulties arise on their own.

Today we will tell the reader about the most important of these differences.

Source: depositphotos.com

Brain size and neural connections

The male brain is on average 10% heavier than the female brain. Scientists argue that this does not provide any advantages in the intellectual sense: the relative increase in the organ corresponds to the need to control a more massive body.

The differences in the structure of neural connections in the brains of men and women are much more significant. Among the fair sex, transverse connections predominate, that is, those that connect the right (responsible for logical thinking) and left (responsible for intuition) hemispheres. Therefore, women do not experience any particular problems when solving problems that require the use of both instinct and a cool mind. In the male brain, longitudinal connections predominate, connecting the anterior and posterior parts of the cortex. The exception is the cerebellar zone: in this area, connections between the hemispheres in men are very well developed, which explains the ability of the stronger sex to easily learn complex physical actions and achieve great success in matters that require a high degree of control over their body.

In men, the lower parietal lobe of the brain, which is responsible for mathematics abilities, is better developed, and in women, the areas of both hemispheres that determine the ability to perceive the features of language and use spoken language.

Age-related changes in the brain

At an early age, the difference between a boy's brain and a girl's brain is minimal; differences begin to appear between 14 and 17 years of age and increase with age.

As the body ages, the human brain “shrinks out,” losing some of its volume. In men and women, this process occurs with significant differences. Thus, in representatives of the stronger sex, the frontal and temporal lobes, the function of which is to control cognitive abilities, emotions and personal characteristics, decrease at the greatest rate. In women, the parietal lobe and the area of the hippocampus, responsible for spatial perception, vision, speech and memory, “dry out” faster. In general, men begin to lose brain volume earlier than their peers. Scientists associate this feature with the protective effect of estrogen on the brain. The most active decrease in brain size in women occurs at the age of menopause, when the production of sexual hormones sharply decreases.

In addition, a woman's brain and a man's brain are susceptible to neurodegenerative changes to varying degrees: women are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease, and men are more likely to develop Parkinson's disease.

Perception of signals coming from the senses

Women's hearing is sharper and more subtle than men's, and the point here is not in the hearing aid as such: the female brain is able to perceive sounds more clearly and highlight the smallest intonations. Likewise, men are inferior to their female friends in terms of detailed tactile sensations.

Similar differences in visual acuity have not been established, but there is a significant difference in the perception of visual signals: a man usually sees the whole picture better, while a woman pays attention to details.

Logic and emotions

Women on average have better memory than men, a larger vocabulary and higher speech activity. In addition, the fair sex has better developed emotional aspects of thinking. But men are able to more sensibly assess the surrounding reality, without complicating events with their anxieties, suspicions and subjective approach.

In any circumstances, a man pays attention to the quantitative, factual side of the issue, and a woman pays attention to the details and emotional overtones of events. For example, driving in a car through an unfamiliar city, the husband remembers the time periods spent on individual parts of the road, and his wife remembers various objects that can serve as landmarks (buildings, signs, etc.). Representatives of the sexes even show a sense of humor differently: a man is interested in the “salt” of an anecdote, while a woman prefers the story itself, which gradually reveals the meaning of a funny situation.

Behavioral and social differences

Men and women not only feel and think, but also behave differently. Representatives of the fair sex are naturally sociable and tend to establish trusting relationships. Women are considered the best organizers, capable of unobtrusively uniting people to solve a common problem. Men are more likely to be “loners”, more adapted to competition, ambitious and aggressive. In a conflict situation, a woman prefers to solve the problem through negotiations, and a man prefers to resolve the conflict by escalating the conflict.

The female tendency to somewhat disperse attention to details also has a positive side: any representative of the fairer sex easily combines several streams of information and is able to do several things at the same time. The male way of thinking involves complete concentration on a specific topic, and moving from one thing to another requires some effort and time.

Knowing the features of the brain of men and the brain of women is very useful. In fact, this is the easiest way to understand each other and stop conflicting over trifles. Remembering how another person differs from you, you can become his support, and save yourself from far-fetched grievances and disappointments. Take care of each other and be happy!

Video from YouTube on the topic of the article:

Differences between the sexes and related discrimination is a topic that is particularly acute in the modern world. Whether the brains of men and women differ and whether this affects behavior and intelligence is a question that worries many.

When considering the question of how the male and female brains differ, the initial concept of gender should be clarified.

There are two terms:

gender – determined by biology and anatomy encoded in DNA;
gender, which is determined by genetics, anatomy and behavioral traits.

Determining the difference between the male brain and the female brain begins only after indicating from what point of view we view it. Sexual differences determine the architecture and functions; the concept of gender is much more complicated (a change in sex does not mean a change in the structure of the organ).

Genes decide everything

The first differences in the structure of the organ are laid down at the level of embryo formation. The combination of XY chromosomes determines the development of a human embryo-boy, the XX variant will predetermine the development of a girl.

Chromosome X contains 1,500 genes responsible for human development. The male body uses all the genes on the maternal chromosome - it has no choice. The female, who has two X chromosomes at her disposal, acts selectively, using genes from both, and her choice occurs in a random order. Girls obviously receive at their disposal 2 times more genetic material than boys.

Most of these one and a half thousand genes determine the formation and activity of the organ. Research conducted at the beginning of this century by US scientists determined that they predetermine the process of production of the protein responsible for the architecture of the brain and determine: thinking; speech skills; type of social behavior; intelligence.

Genes reproduce molecules to carry out the duties of the cells where they are contained. The brain is created from cells that experience the action of sex chromosomes, under their influence the type is formed. The female brain differs from the male brain in the thickness of the areas responsible for making decisions (the frontal lobe and prefrontal cortex), and the structure of the limbic zone, which is responsible for cognition and emotions. There is a significant difference in the structure of the amygdala, which is responsible for the emergence and memorization of emotions. In men it is much greater, the connection between the tonsils in the female brain is determined with the left hemisphere, in gentlemen the opposite is true.

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Neurotransmitters that regulate emotions are synthesized differently in the bodies of men and women; gender predetermines different patterns of interaction between the hemispheres.

Pathologists note a more frequent presence of mental retardation in men - this is determined by mutations of the X chromosome genes. With the same breakdown, a woman very often has no obvious consequences.

This provides evidence that gender determines brain function. But there is no strict determination - physiological sex does not always determine the “sex” of an organ; in approximately 20% of cases, women are distinguished by the fact that they think according to the male type and vice versa.

Complementary Differences

Despite the differences in the formation of the brain even at the embryonic level, the formation of its functional zones and abilities

a person is affected by the level of hormones in the amniotic fluid. Simon Baron-Cohen has established a direct connection in his research:

The more testosterone in the body of pregnant women, the later their babies try to speak; it is difficult for such children to establish eye contact with others (formation follows the male type). Differences in testosterone levels influence the formation of differences in girls and boys.

The final formation of the organ occurs during the development of the infant. Consequently, 2/3 of the differences in the male and female brains are laid down at the level of intrauterine development, a third - in the process of development and personality formation at an early age.

Brain architecture

How is the male brain different from the female brain? Since the average brain takes up 2% of body weight, the male brain is larger, but the cells in the female brain are denser, information is transferred between them faster.

Men and women have different types of hemispheric connections. Gentlemen use only one hemisphere at a time, ladies use both; information processing features predetermine the development of spatial orientation abilities in men.

Women, due to the use of both hemispheres in the process of activity, better establish social connections and can solve several problems at the same time.

Verbal communication abilities

Sexual characteristics of the central nervous system, despite thousands of years of evolution, are still determined by the main function of the species - reproduction and preservation of offspring as a method of survival. Despite all the problems of civilization, human behavior is based on the same initial patterns determined by nature for the possibility of reproduction of Homo sapiens.

Features of the brain of men, whose role was determined by the protection and production of food for the family - a developed right hemisphere, which determines spatial orientation.

A woman’s brain is formed taking into account the need to care for and educate offspring, therefore it uses the left hemisphere most effectively, which determines the speech and communication skills of women. In boys, the development of the left hemisphere is inhibited by testosterone during prenatal development.

To process speech information, the brains of men and women use different circuits: two hemispheres and more developed neural connections in women, one hemisphere and less developed connections in men.

This determines a faster recovery of speech in women after organ damage and better reading and writing abilities in girls.

Interaction with the outside world

The structural features of a woman’s brain allow her to hear 2.5 times better and distinguish smells and tastes more acutely. Ladies perceive colors a little differently - they have access to more shades of color than men.

A man is more capable of distinguishing small objects in motion (hunter's vision).

Feelings, emotions, joint activities

The average man’s brain reacts to a stressful situation by activating the right hemisphere, the female brain activates the left, for the stronger sex the essence of the stressful state is more important than the details of the experience. Women, on the contrary, remember the details of their sensory experiences; they have “sensory memory”; memories of events result in memories of emotions.

The brain of women, more than men, depends on changes in hormonal levels. During menopause, women's ability to learn new skills and remember information decreases.

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When it comes to joining forces to achieve a goal, women show better performance - they interact better with each other. Men achieve mutual understanding better in large groups.

When cooperation is needed, women's brains activate the temporal cortex, while men's brains activate the lower right prefrontal zone.

Oddly enough, when it is necessary for a woman-woman pair to interact, the central nervous system is tuned to mutual cooperation; in a man-woman pair there is no such process, although this does not affect the achievement of the final task. Whether this is a confirmation of the initially different roles of men and women in the process of survival of the species is unknown.

Differences in Thinking

A huge resource allows a person to learn in the process of development, so there are women with a masculine way of thinking and men who think like women.

Women's brains use two hemispheres to think, allowing them to perform multiple tasks at the same time.

What can a woman do better?

maintain a balance between tasks;
do different tasks at the same time;
use memory;
balance logic and emotions;
use speech;
establish social connections.

What can do worse:

focus on isolated difficult cases;
work with high efficiency;
think logically;
set aside emotions when making decisions;

A man's brain can perform one task and does not use associations.

What men can do better:

focus and complete the task perfectly;
achieve maximum performance;

Female brain, male brain

Women's and men's brains are different. However, recent research shows how wrong it is to assume that all gender differences are hardwired. All over the world, psychologists and neurologists are struggling with an age-old question: “Why can’t a woman think like a man, and vice versa?”

Sex differences in the brain become most noticeable in the social environment. Women of all ages outperform men hands down in tests that involve emotions or building relationships. The ability to empathize begins in infancy. Undoubtedly, this ability differs between men and women; these differences persist for a long time and only intensify with age. The early appearance of any sexual difference is always innate, programmed, developed during evolution and fixed in behavior. However, gender differences that grow in childhood may be the fruit of socialization, a consequence of a particular lifestyle, culture and education.

On the surface, brain research appears to resolve this nature-culture dilemma. Any difference in the structure or activation of male and female mental faculties has a natural basis. However, the assumption that such differences are innate is wrong, given everything we know about the plasticity, or malleability, of the brain. Simply put, the events that happen to us change our brain.

A recent study by scientists P. Nopoulos and J. Wood and their colleagues at the University of Iowa shows how difficult it is to unravel the mystery of nature and culture, even at the level of brain structures. One division of the ventral prefrontal cortex, a structure involved in social cognition and interpersonal judgment, was found to be larger in women. (The male brain is approximately 10% larger than the female brain, so any comparison of specific brain regions must be measured in proportion to this difference.)

This part of the brain is known as the gyrus rectus. It is located between the inner edge of the hemisphere and the olfactory sulcus. Nopoulos and Wood found that the gyrus rectus was approximately 10% larger in the thirty women they studied compared with the thirty men (accounting for the larger brain size of men). In addition, the scientists found that the size of the gyrus rectus correlated with a widely used test of social cognition—so that people (both men and women) who excelled at interpersonal communication also had a larger gyrus rectus.

Nopoulos and Wood suggested that because women were primarily involved in raising children, their brains were evolutionarily programmed to develop a large rectus gyrus, because women, as mothers, should be more sensitive.

This conclusion is very indicative, because it represents a typical mistake when cause and effect are confused. People make the same mistake when they say: “The thumb has evolved to make it more convenient to hold a stick.” But evolution is not a fortune teller; it cannot foresee that it will be more convenient to hold a stick with a thumb! Everything happens the other way around: due to the fact that our ancestors tried to tenaciously hold a stick, they developed a thumb. Not for a non-existent purpose, but in order to help in an action that is already taking place.

So, given the results of Nopoulos and Wood's research, let's set the right emphasis. If the size of the gyrus rectus is indeed associated with deeper interpersonal communication, then it was not the gyrus that evolved to improve communication (once again - the gyrus has no way of knowing this!), but rather the process of communication stimulated the enlargement of the gyrus.

The researchers thought the best way to test this hypothesis was to look at children. If differences in the gyrus rectus exist between the sexes from a very early age, this would support the idea that the difference is innate, programmed. Wood and Nopoulos conducted a second study in which they measured the same region in children aged between 7 and 17 years. But here the results were unexpected: it turned out that the rectus gyrus is in fact larger in boys! Moreover, the same test of interpersonal understanding showed that skill in this area was associated with smaller gyrus rectus size, rather than larger size as in adults. The authors acknowledge that their findings are complex and argue that this change between childhood and adulthood reflects later brain maturation in boys compared to girls. The brain undergoes a significant “shrinkage,” or more accurately, a reduction in the volume of gray matter during adolescence, which occurs approximately two years earlier in girls compared to boys.

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