Comparing the Women's and Men's Brains: 6 Differences That Will Surprise You
Recent research has revealed significant differences between the brains of men and women, controlling everything from decision-making and emotional responses to the risk of developing certain diseases.
In this context, a recent study conducted by the Stanford School of Medicine used computer algorithms based on "deep learning" to analyze brain imaging data from more than 1,000 men and women, aged 20 to 35. The researchers discovered that women's brain activity patterns differ radically from those of men.
Differences Between the Men's and Women's Brains
The study, published by The Telegraph, revealed six of the most profound ways the brain differs between the sexes, and how this ultimately affects our behavior and the life choices we make.
1- Women Have a Better Memory:
Some evidence suggests that women's memory may function more efficiently.
According to numerous studies, men's brains are 10% larger and about 100 grams heavier, even taking into account differences in body size.
While this isn't linked to any gender differences in intelligence, it's believed to contribute to differences in brain structure, which contributes to understanding how men and women perceive the world.
In addition, women are able to access their memories more quickly than men, determine their history more accurately, and retrieve information from their long-term memory.
2. Women are more prone to altruism:
Over the past four years, a group of Spanish economists have used a popular psychological experiment as a simple way to measure whether men or women are more prone to altruism.
The group's previous study was based on a simple psychological test called the "Dictator Game," which was developed by behavioral economists in the 1990s and analyzes people's responses after receiving an unexpected financial gift.
After being offered 10 euros, more than 1,000 men and women were asked how much of the gift they would donate to an anonymous recipient.
According to Marina Pavan, an economist at the University of Jomi I, the most common choice among male participants was to give nothing at all, while women showed much greater generosity, handing over nearly 5 euros, or half the gift.
Other research has revealed similar findings and offered possible explanations. Successive surveys have also indicated that women, on average, are more likely to donate to charity, to larger sums, and to volunteer their time to various causes.
3. Women are more empathetic:
Relatively speaking, women are born with a higher density of gray matter in the brain.
Gray matter includes numerous neuronal cell bodies and branching fibers that form the outer layer of the brain. It is essential for processing memory, interpreting information, and processing and controlling emotions.
According to a recently published study from the University of Cambridge, which analyzed the brain structures of more than 500 newborns using state-of-the-art imaging techniques, females showed, on average, superior memory recall, scoring higher on tests of emotional intelligence or empathy.
Several studies have indicated that females have, on average, a relatively larger amount of gray matter across different stages of development.
This may also explain some of the differences that appear early in life, as baby girls respond more readily to faces and begin speaking earlier than boys.
4. Men are better at reading maps:
On average, men tend to score higher than women on so-called "spatial awareness tasks," which require awareness of where things are, how to navigate from one place to another, and how to move through space without bumping into things.
For example, parking a car requires spatial awareness, as do map reading, as do sports like football, gymnastics, basketball, and hockey. Of course, many women have excellent spatial awareness, such as professional gymnasts, but when averaging performance, it appears that men tend to excel at these tasks.
A recent study published by the University of Cambridge shows that male babies, on average, have more white matter in their brains. These are the neural pathways that form a network between brain regions, often called the brain's "superhighway." This is believed to be potentially important for spatial awareness and physical coordination.
5. Women are more likely to cry:
Women tend to process emotional experiences more intensely than men, but especially when they are in the second half of their menstrual cycle.
This is due to differences in how the sexes activate the amygdala, a structure located in each hemisphere of the brain that acts as the brain's emotional center.
One of the most famous experiments, published in 2000, showed that after watching a distressing movie, men activate their right amygdala to remember the intense scenes, while women activate their left amygdala.
This turns out to be a crucial difference, as the left amygdala is more sensitive to hormonal fluctuations during the menstrual cycle.
This means that during this half of the month, women are able to retrieve emotional memories quickly and intensely.
Researchers wonder whether this contributes to women's twice-high lifetime risk of developing clinical depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) compared to men.
6. Men are less likely to develop dementia:
It's clear that men develop dementia, but women are at a much greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and cognitive impairment.
