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The brains of men and women differ in the orientation of neural connections. Neurosexism: Are women's brains different from men's?
Serge Ginger on the differences and similarities between the male brain and the female brain. Plus a humorous picture about the brains of both sexes.
Serge Ginger about the brain
Serge Ginger- representative and founder of the Russian school of Gestalt, author of books on the theory and practice of Gestal therapy.
In his 1981 Manifesto for Social Psychotherapy, he describes the “five fundamental existential dimensions” that drive a person: physical, emotional or affective, rational or cognitive, social, and finally spiritual. This description got its name - the Ginger pentagram.
Today I present to your attention his little-known article, or rather the text of his lecture on the brain of a man and the brain of a woman.
Treat the picture with humor - I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.
The Brain of a Man and the Brain of a Woman. Serge Ginger:
I'm sure you will be interested in these scientific facts about the differences between the brains of men and women.
Today you are lucky - you will have two lectures. And since I have little time, I will give these two lectures... at the same time!
One for women, the other for men!
In fact, I've already started: right now, women and men are hearing different messages!
Listening with both hemispheres
For example - in general, of course (with many individual variations), - women perceive my voice twice as loud (more precisely, 2.3 times louder) than men. Thus, they perceive my voice as “shouting” (and they think I am angry), while men have the feeling that I am speaking confidentially, with some sympathy...
Women listen to me with both of their hemispheres (left brain and right brain), while men listen to me mostly with their left brain - verbal, logical and therefore critical! Women have more connections between the two hemispheres through the corpus callosum, and my speech is colored by emotions, subjectively perceived through their desires and fears, through their ethical or social values (such as feminism). They listen to what I say, but mostly attentive to how I say it, sensitive to the tone of my voice, the rhythm of my breathing, my intended feelings.
Of course, this predominance of audition and subjective hearing is just details, but the main interest is that we can observe it here and now.
Two different types
To be frank, we belong to two different “species.” Nowadays, we are just finishing deciphering the human genome and, as you may know, it has been proven that humans and monkeys have approximately the same (98.4%) gene composition: and the difference between men and male monkeys is 1 .6%... While the difference between men and women is 5%!
So, a human male is physiologically closer to a male monkey than to a female! And, as you may have guessed, a woman is closer to a female monkey!
Of course, this is somewhat provocative and the quantitative sloppiness of calculations has a qualitative aspect: for example, genes that contribute to the development of language, art, philosophy, etc.; but they highlight the great gap between the sexes - within all animal species, including the human species.
Right brain - male
Researchers from all countries now agree:
- left brain - more developed in women;
- The right brain (the so-called “emotional brain”) is more developed in men - contrary to popular belief among the general public (and sometimes even psychotherapists). This occurs under the influence of sex hormones and neurotransmitters (testosterone, etc.).
Thus, a woman is more involved in verbal interaction and communication, while a man is more prepared for action and competition.
- Already in kindergarten, during a 50 minute lesson, little girls speak for 15 minutes and boys only for 4 minutes (four times less).
- Boys make noise and fight 10 times more often than girls: on average, 5 minutes versus 30 seconds.
- When they are 9 years old, girls are 18 months ahead in terms of verbal development.
- As adults, women answer on average 20 minutes per phone call, while men speak only for 6 minutes, and only to give urgent information.
- A woman needs to share her ideas, feelings, thoughts, while a man strives to control his emotions and tries to find a solution. He interrupts his wife to offer a solution...and the wife doesn't feel heard! In fact, men are more emotional than women, but they do not express their feelings, and this cannot be neglected in married life and during psychotherapy.
Orientation
- A woman interacts with Time (left brain).
- Men interact with Space (right brain): the male advantage in three-dimensional spatial rotation tests is enormous since childhood (Kimura, 2000).
- A woman operates with specific markers: the advantage of women in remembering or naming specific objects is enormous.
- A man operates in abstract concepts: he can take an impromptu “shortcut” to get to his car or hotel.
Sense organs
Generally speaking, women are more empathetic, i.e. they have more developed senses.
- Her hearing is more developed: this explains the importance nice words, tone of speech, music.
- Her tactile sense is more developed: she has 10 times more skin receptors that are sensitive to contact; Oxytocin and prolactin (the “attachment and cuddle” hormones) increase her need for touch.
- Her sense of smell is more accurate: 100 times more sensitive in certain periods her menstrual cycle.
- Her Vomero Nasal Organ (VNO), the real “6th sense” (the chemical organ of relationships between people), seems more developed and more vividly perceives pheromones that reflect various emotions: sexual desire, anger, fear, sadness... Perhaps this is called “intuition”?
- As for vision, it is more developed in men, and eroticized: hence their keen interest and attention to clothes, cosmetics, jewelry, nudity, pornographic magazines... Although women have better visual memory (for recognizing faces, the shape of objects).
Why such differences? Evolution theory
Researchers attribute fundamental biological and social differences between men and women to natural selection over more than one million years of evolution of the human species. Such adaptive evolution, they hypothesize, shaped our brains and senses through the combined action of hormones and neurotransmitters.
- Men have adapted to hunting over large spaces and distances (as well as fighting and war between tribes). Typically, they would silently stalk their prey (animal), sometimes for days, and then find their cave again (orientation meaning). They had very little verbal interaction (it is estimated that prehistoric man met no more than 150 people during his entire life).
- At the same time, the woman’s brain adapted to raising and teaching children, which involves verbal interaction in the limited space of a cave.
So, on a biological level, men were programmed to compete, and women to cooperate.
Thus, everyone can see that biologically, psychotherapy is... a woman's business!
These predispositions seem to be related to biology (hormones and neurotransmitters). They are created during the very first weeks of intrauterine life, and seem to change little under the influence of education and culture.
Nature and learning
Today, neurologists and geneticists believe that our personality deterministic.
- Approximately 1/3 - heredity: chromosomes from the nuclei of our cells (and mitochondrial DNA inheritance, 100% transmitted by the mother).
- Approximately 1/3 - intrauterine life: during the first weeks after conception, each embryo (fetus) is female (Durdeen-Smith & Desimone, 1983; Badinter, 1992; Magre & Al., 2001), and masculinization occurs later: it is slow and difficult, hormonal and socially determined conquest So, the girl is not the boy who lost his penis (Freud's hypothesis), but the boy is the girl who conquered the penis! The so-called penis envy or need for it is a hypothesis that has never been confirmed. Among transsexual people, can be found five times more men, wanting to become a woman, than women wanting to become a man. Twice as many homosexual males were born during the war, probably because maternal stress disrupted hormonal balance (Durdeen-Smith & Desimone, 1983; Le Vay, 1993). These two parts, hereditary and congenital, seem to be important: for example, if the male twin is homosexual, his identical twin is also homosexual 50–65% of the time; in the case of fraternal twins - 25–30%, which is two times less, but still 5 times more than in the general population! Homosexuality in many cases can be determined at the age of 1–2 years. (Le Vay, 1993)…
- Approximately 1/3 - qualities acquired after birth: influence of cultural environment, education, training and training, chance circumstances or psychotherapy!
Overall, the correlation between individuals is estimated to be:
- 50% - between identical twins (heredity),
- 25% - between fraternal twins (hormonal “impregnation” during intrauterine life),
- 10% - between brothers and sisters (education),
- 0% - between strangers.
These three factors(heredity, acquisitions in the womb, acquisitions throughout life) can be traced - in different proportions - in many areas of ability: intelligence, music, sports and, even, optimism.
Depending on the amount of pessimistic or optimistic genes you have inherited, you can formulate these studies in different ways:
- “our personality is predetermined - from our birth - approximately 2/3”;
- “our personality is created - from our conception - approximately 2/3.”
Hormones
When we put the ball on the ground, the boys hit it; and the girls take the ball and press it to their heart. This does not depend on their education and culture, but has a direct bearing on their hormones.
Testosterone- a hormone of desire, sexuality and aggression. It could be called the "hormone of conquest" (military or sexual). It develops:
- muscle strength (40% muscle in men, 23% in women);
- speed (reactions) and impatience (92% of drivers who honk at traffic lights are men);
- aggression, competition, dominance (the dominant male maintains the quality of the species);
- endurance, perseverance;
- wound healing;
- beard and baldness;
- vision (far, like a “telephoto” lens);
- right side of the body and fingerprints (Kimura, 1999);
- throwing accuracy;
- orientation;
- attractiveness to a young female (capable of producing offspring).
Influence estrogen:
- dexterity, individual finger movements (Kimura, 1999);
- left side of the body (and fingerprints);
- on average, 15% fat in men and 25% in women (to protect and nourish the baby);
- hearing: women perceive a greater range of sounds, they sing melodies 6 times more often, they have an acute recognition of sounds and music (to recognize their child).
Research in neuroscience confirms much traditional knowledge. This helps in everyday work in psychotherapy and counseling (with individuals or couples).
And now, to conclude this short lecture, some specific examples daily influence of neuroscience on psychotherapeutic practice.
They help the psychotherapist:
- listen to a woman patiently until she has finished, without trying to “solve” her problem (which would be male reaction action-oriented: instead of her “mother”, the psychotherapist becomes her “father”);
- encourage men to talk more, express and share their feelings;
- emphasize the importance of seeing for men and listening for women, especially in erotic foreplay (music, pleasant voice);
- stimulate sick people: placing patients near a window (open during external world) helps healing; stimulate the elderly: passive inactivity accelerates aging;
- during psychotherapy, find internal connections between sexuality and aggression (both are regulated by the hypothalamus and testosterone);
- be very careful with “memories” of early sexual dysfunction: memories of a scene, real or only seen in the imagination, are located in the same areas of the brain and create the same neurochemical reactions (40% of “memories” are false memories recovered from conscious or unconscious fears or desires;
- mobilize the frontal lobes, the center of responsibility and autonomy (be able to say “no”); hence the wealth of paradoxical and provocative therapy.
Some General Notes
Sexual activity speeds up wound healing (testosterone).
Body-oriented therapy helps mobilize the neural pathways: movement > right brain > limbic brain > emotions > deep engramming (coding) of experience.
A certain amount of emotion helps memorization: verbalization afterwards helps recovery in the future.
Long-term memorization occurs mainly during sleep (paradoxical phase of sleep); therefore, in case of mental trauma (accident, death loved one, rape, terrorist attack, earthquake), a psychotherapeutic session before the first episode of dreams is useful (“Emergency Gestalt Therapy”, Ginger, 1987).
Women attempt suicide ten times more often (they express their feelings); men are more successful at suicide.
Women speak without thinking, men act without thinking.
Women who are unhappy in their personal relationships have problems at work.
Men who are not happy at work have problems in their personal relationships.
Women need intimacy to appreciate sexuality; men need sexuality to appreciate intimacy.
Finally, and this is fundamental, to follow the results of research in genetics and neurology, and constantly (weekly) update your knowledge.
Probably exists a big difference- or a woman! (Krause-Girth, 2001).
Our perception of the world is very different, but pleasantly complementary!
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The secret of longevity from the pharmacists of the Chinese emperors, a recipe for youth that is 3000 years old. Ganoderma, lingzhi mushroom, goji berries - recipe ingredients […]Text: Anastasia Travkina
Illustrations: Dasha Chertanova
Inequality between women and men is often explained by biology: different rights and opportunities are supposedly associated with differences in the body. People especially talk about “male” and “female” brains—and the prefix “neuro-” has become a new twist in the debate about innate differences. It would seem that, modern techniques Research should provide a definitive answer to the question of whether men and women really think, learn, solve problems, and choose what is important to them in life differently. Let's figure out whether this is really so and how neuroscience data is used to fuel stereotypes.
How it all started
Today, attempts by American slave owners or Nazi scientists to prove the “inferiority” of an entire group of people using measurements seem wild to us - but look for biological arguments to show what women are worse than men, some still consider it logical. The idea that women's thinking is less developed than men's long years was the “background” of the research.
Scientists who studied the brain in the 19th century could not “look” inside - they had to stop at external measurements. They weighed the brain and measured the ratio of the height and width of the skull. The first discovery Victorian era- women’s brains are smaller than men’s brains - began to be used as evidence of women’s “inferiority”; then they started talking about small size face and the ratio of the height and width of the skull. None of the assumptions subsequently came true: it turned out that intelligence depends on the size of neither the brain nor the skull.
Two hundred years ago, many believed that women were not capable of science, were not intended for politics and lived by feelings, their main talents were gentleness, meekness, submission and motherhood, while men strive for discovery, power and control. As philosopher Neil Levy says, “On average, women's intelligence is best at tasks aimed at making other people comfortable.”
Education was considered dangerous for women's health. Harvard Medical School professor Edward Clark argued that mental activity can cause women's ovaries to atrophy; supposedly it leads to masculinization, infertility, madness and even death. By the way, Clark’s idea was refuted by a woman physician, Mary Jacobi.
Testosterone and embryos
In 2005, at a conference on promoting sociocultural and gender diversity in science and engineering, Harvard University President Lawrence Summers suggested that women are naturally less capable of the sciences. Needless to say, they tried to explain the fact that women scientists were outraged by this statement by their “sensitivity”?
To justify such a statement, the media, excited by the scandalous speech, recalled the theory of prenatal testosterone. According to it, the release of testosterone in a male embryo in the eighth week of development changes the structure of his brain: it increases the centers responsible for aggression and sexual behavior, and reduces those responsible for communication and emotions. This attack of androgens on the embryo supposedly creates a “real” man who is fit for science.
But there are problems with this bold theory. Firstly, the influence of “male” hormones on the brain was studied in rodents, whose brains differ significantly in organizational complexity from those of humans. In addition, even scientists who look at how testosterone affects rat fetuses cannot answer exactly how it changes the behavior of rat pups after birth. Secondly, there is no way yet to directly measure testosterone in a child's blood. We can guess its level by indirect indicators: by measuring its level in the mother’s blood or in amniotic fluid or by correlating the length of the nameless and index finger(this is thought to be influenced by testosterone in the womb). This means that researchers don't yet know for sure how much their measurements are related to fetal hormones that can affect the brain.
Of course, this cannot be said that hormones do not affect the brain in any way - but so far we do not know exactly how. Moreover, it is impossible to talk about what place people
with or without testosterone should occupy social positions
Thirdly, the only way to test how testosterone affects children's behavior, and at the same time exclude the influence of gender stereotypes in the environment, is to conduct studies on infants up to a few days old. Such tests themselves are very difficult to organize. For example, they conducted the following experiment: boys and girls were allowed to look at the face of the scientist who conducted the experiment and a typewriter. It turned out that boys looked at the car longer than girls (51% versus 41%), and girls looked at the face (49% versus 46%). Moreover, the experiment was not conducted entirely correctly: the experimenters knew the gender of the children in advance and did not make sure that all the babies were lying in the same fixed position and that the distance from each of them to the object was the same. However, the experimenters stated that girls are born with an innate interest in faces, and boys - in moving objects.
Of course, this cannot be said that hormones do not affect the brain in any way - but so far we do not know exactly how. Moreover, it is impossible to talk about what place people with or without testosterone should occupy in society.
"Creative"
and the “rational” hemisphere
You've probably heard the myth that only one of its hemispheres is responsible for some brain abilities: for example, the right hemisphere is responsible for creativity and intuition, and the left is for logic and consistency. In fact, brain asymmetry concerns only low-level “technical” processes, including control of the sensory organs (for example, information from the left viewing angle of the eye is processed right hemisphere, and so on). It cannot be said that men use the left hemisphere of the brain more for speech (and therefore can express their thoughts clearly), and women use the right hemisphere (and therefore talk about feelings). If this were so, then in men speech problems would arise exclusively when the left hemisphere is damaged, and in women - in the right hemisphere, but this does not happen. It turned out that the location of the “speech” and “spatial” zones of the hemispheres varies for many reasons, including those not related to gender.
What scientists did find were differences in the connections in the brains of men and women. In the brains of men there are more connections within the hemispheres, and in the brains of women there are more interhemispheric connections. However, it has not yet been possible to prove that these features are related to behavior and abilities. It was noted that the method of communication in the hemispheres depends on the size of the brain: the larger it is, the more intrahemispheric connections it has, regardless of the gender of the owner. The size of the brain is proportional to the body, so people with smaller bodies have smaller brains and big amount interhemispheric connections.
It is impossible to conclude from these features that men are better suited for mathematics and spatial tasks, and women - for speech tasks and intuition. Interestingly, researchers of mathematically gifted adolescents argue that it is precisely the greater connection between the hemispheres (ironically, more often observed in women) that gives ability to mathematics.
Spatial
and speech abilities
Often those who seek to prove the difference between men and women focus on what seems obvious to them from life experience: Women make fewer discoveries, are less represented in science, listen to others more, and are more involved with children. This is approximately how in the 18th century they proved the inconsistency of female intelligence: women did not show talent in the sciences, which they were simply forbidden to engage in.
In order to prove these “regularities” today, spatial tests for the rotation of three-dimensional figures are often used: it is believed that men are better at this. This opinion has been well researched social psychologists. It turned out that if before the test the subjects are told that it will determine their abilities in engineering and aircraft construction (or that men are better at it), then women show lower results. If we say that skills in crocheting and other needlework are tested (or say that women pass the tests better), then women do better.
This effect is called "stereotype threat". Both men and women are subject to “intuitive” ideas that are not so easy to dismiss, especially when they are expressed by authorities: scientists and opinion leaders. Interestingly, when passing tests, manifestation leadership qualities and ambitions can also be influenced by other information: for example, biographies of women leaders, science articles about women's abilities in mathematics and spatial thinking significantly increase the results of girls.
Toys, children and primates
A few years ago, everyone was shocked by the observations of anthropologists on a tribe of wild chimpanzees: scientists discovered that young females were nursing firebrands like a doll. This study was used as an argument that a woman's main role is motherhood. But a human woman is still not exactly a female chimpanzee. To prove (or disprove) the tendency of great ape and human cubs to engage in stereotypical activities from an early age, it is necessary to conduct large-scale experiments with both.
The results of such experiments on monkeys were contradictory. The chimpanzees were offered a “boyish” car and a ball, a “girly” doll and a saucepan, and a “neutral” picture book and a stuffed dog. Males played with all toys equally, while females spent more time on toys “for girls.” The truth lies here serious problem: Human things have a different meaning to animals. When the same toys were divided into other categories - animate and inanimate - the difference between the preferences of females and males disappeared.
Often, research data that does not reveal differences between men and women goes unnoticed - but studies confirming the difference are published and reprinted by the media and bloggers
In experiments on children clear conclusions it doesn't work either. Trains, cars and tools are considered “boyish” toys, and dishes, a baby bottle or cradle are considered “girlish” toys. On average, it can be shown that boys spend more time playing with cars, and girls spend more time playing with bottles. With gender neutral toys such as jigsaw puzzles, pyramids, Stuffed Toys, and both spend the same amount of time. Other researchers believe that soft toys are not gender neutral, but are intended for girls, and argue that girls spend more time with them.
Just like with monkeys, experiments with children can become a “self-fulfilling prophecy”, and many questions remain after them. What exactly attracts kids to toys: color, temperature and texture, sounds, durability, smell? What would a boy be more willing to play with? fire truck without wheels or with Barbie in a pink car? What properties of toys are attractive to female and male primates, and is it possible, knowing them, to design toys that would be interesting only to one sex?
So is there a difference
Neurosciences are a group of new sciences located at early stage development. Our technology is still imperfect, there is still very little information about the brain - and many discoveries about humans are still ahead. There are recommendations for neuroresearch; they suggest taking into account not only the gender of the subjects, but also their age, origin, social status and so on. This requirement takes into account the ability of the brain to change under the influence of experience throughout life. If we obtain evidence of differences in brain function among different people, we must understand whether they appeared from birth or under the influence of experience. Stereotypes are also reinforced by the kind of information that reaches a wide audience: often the data of many studies that do not reveal differences between men and women are ignored - but studies confirming the difference between women and men are published and reprinted by the media and bloggers.
There are no areas of the brain responsible for talent for mathematics, writing, empathy or culinary ability: it is a “mosaic” involving many areas that can solve the same problem different ways. “Intuitive” conclusions may turn out to be stereotypes; experiments must be correctly reproduced in different laboratories and give the same result.
Of course, we cannot say that there are no biological differences between the sexes. Research could, for example, help understand conditions such as autism, which are more commonly diagnosed in boys. The difference must be taken into account in the experiments themselves. Even for cell research, it is now proposed to use cells taken from both men and women, since sex-determining chromosomes encode up to 5% of our genome and affect cell reactions.
Moreover, “difference” does not mean “opposite” at all; scientists propose to talk about the “gender effect”: humanity is a single species with many variations in the structure of the brain. “Male” and “female” brains are a myth, but existing differences there is no reason to believe that some brains are “better” than others.
1) There are men with feminine thinking and there are women with male thinking . Everything depends on life experience, so you shouldn’t paint everyone with the same brush.
Let's look at the picture right away (the upper brain is male, the lower brain is female):
In the figure we see the main differences in the functioning of the brain of opposite sexes.
Gray matter(neuron bodies - in the form of enlarged dots, like computer centers) - between them white matter(like cables between computer information processing centers - neuron axons) through which electrical signals circulate in the brain.
- left hemisphere- responsible for logic, analytical, abstract, verbal thinking.
- right hemisphere- responsible for creative thinking, spatial, associative, non-verbal, intuition is also here.
2) A combination of logic and intuition. (left and right hemisphere)
Men do it separately- that is, they cannot combine intuition and logic at the same time (seen in the upper part of the picture). Information circulates almost in isolation in one hemisphere.
The female brain, on the other hand, owns this combination - as we see in the lower part of the picture - they do it skillfully (and electrical signals run back and forth - from one hemisphere to the other - how cleverly). This adaptation has both pros and cons.
Hence the following conclusion:
Girls and women think and feel at the same time, men and boys think and feel separately.
Therefore, when a guy falls in love, he loses the ability to think critically, while girls retain it - partially!
This allows girls - be multitasking- that is, several functions at the same time, since they use 2 hemispheres at the same time. But this is not always a plus, since by using both hemispheres the brain is not able to develop deeply in one thing. Otherwise, for men, and this is their advantage every day - due to the fact that only a certain part of the brain is often used - guys easily achieve deeper and more powerful victories in a certain area. If you achieve depth in a certain area of life, it will feed you all your life, and you will be respected for it. For example, a male politician working in only one area, he reaches certain heights, for which he later receives his laurels. Therefore, a guy should immediately get on the right path and fight in one right direction and success will follow. If you choose the wrong path, failure is inevitable and very cruel (for example, homeless people and others - well, you understand, they relaxed once, fell apart, gave in - you shouldn’t do this). Therefore, girls can often notice in guys - mastery in one thing and complete mediocrity in another - that they, of course, must forgive or develop their partner in this, as usually happens in normal couples.
Understanding the weaknesses of your thinking allows you to overcome these weaknesses.
Question to think about: can a guy be more multitasking than a girl, do I like it better female? Her “neurons run differently” and “faster than mine” - will this give rise to a feeling of desire for possession or something else?
Therefore, after drinking a little alcohol, the brain of a man and a woman begins to slow down and at some point the boundaries are blurred, it is easy to find common topics and getting to know each other is easier. But in fact, this is a more regressive path, since alcohol, as you know, kills neurons... so you will only become dumber over time and there will be no progress. Whether it’s the method that Casanova used, the sly guy even then figured out how to properly circumvent this point)
3) Setting priorities. Men often do this and set priorities of 10% for this task, 70% for a more significant one, so as not to miss something important. Girls can assign 1 (unit) to any task or 1 point for completing any task. When you are juggling 10 balls, what difference does it make which is which? Therefore, men often complain that women take serious matters very simply or superficially and, conversely, take trifles seriously.
4) Feminine thinking more associative. As you can see in the picture above, they have more connections in their brain, more associations... she associated with this (from the left hemisphere --> runs to the right and so on constantly). Associative thinking- faster than logical. This justifies best memory and it also underpins the best social skills.
5) Different approach To stressful situations . A man needs to “go into himself”, “get distracted” and “unwind” in order to clear the RAM (temporary), close the box and move on to next task. Girls need to speak out in order to find an associative solution to the problem. That’s why they suffer so much without a friend or want to move closer to them. Hence the eternal family problems- one wants to forget everything and move on to another task, as if “turning the page of a book,” while the woman wants to discuss everything.
6) Spatial orientation- and coordination is better developed in men (in the picture above there are more connections in the back of the brain).
7) Language options- otherwise, the ability to speak and pronounce everything is better developed in girls, this is usually noticeable from childhood (in the picture above there are more connections in the front part of the brain). Chattyness from this story.
Why are women less susceptible to pain? Can men multitask? Are women really more likely to be depressed? Do men really never listen to doctors? It is difficult to say unambiguously how much of the above is true. What we can say for sure is that a man's brain and a woman's brain do not always work in the same way. This is where such myths come from. Let's try to figure out how the male and female brains work.
It's simple: I watched my children for a long time. They are now 8 years old. They are twins: a boy and a girl. Same age, same upbringing conditions, but the difference in perception is noticeable. When the children accidentally got lost in the crowd, it was the son who quickly found out where they were. But the daughter quickly established contact with other adults, which helped her find them faster. I can give a lot of such examples. While studying my children, I began to delve more actively into this topic. I will describe in more detail what I learned about the difference in the functioning of the male and female brain.
Key differences between male and female brains
I will analyze the differences between the brains of men and women using the following points as an example:
- structure;
- verbal skills;
- perception;
- memory and emotions;
- teamwork;
- sexual behavior.
Structure
Let's start with who has a bigger brain, women or men? When compared by volume, the male brain is 100 grams larger than the female brain. Despite this difference, in the female brain nerve cells located closer to each other, which contributes to more active transmission of information. In the male brain one can notice the predominance of intrahemispheric connections, and in the female brain - interhemispheric connections. Scientists suggest that this difference is responsible for the differences in social and spatial skills.
In the male brain there is a stronger connection between the perception of reality and coordination of actions. Therefore, men have more developed spatial skills. In the brains of the fair half of humanity there is a stronger connection between the intuitive and analytical methods of data processing. That is why the fair half of humanity has stronger social skills and is better at multitasking.
Verbal skills
At intrauterine development The development of the left hemisphere of the fetus in men slows down slightly, while accelerated development right hemisphere. This is due to the influence of the male sex hormone testosterone. This explains the fact that women have better verbal skills (the left hemisphere is responsible for their development), while men have better developed visual-spatial skills.
When processing verbal data, two hemispheres work simultaneously in the female brain. Men use only one thing for this.
In women, the right and left hemispheres are connected by thickened cables of nerves. In the male brain they are thinner. This is one of the reasons why women recover speech much faster after a stroke, and why boys have problems with speech and reading. early age are much more common.
Perception
Women have better developed senses such as:
- hearing;
- sense of smell;
- perception of taste.
It's easier for men to recognize small parts objects in motion. Perhaps that is why in ancient times they became good hunters. Men and women perceive colors completely differently. Orange appears redder for men than for women. In addition, it is more difficult for men to perceive shades of green, yellow or blue.
Memory and emotions
Memory and emotions directly depend on how the hemispheres of the brain work in women and men. In a state of stress in men, the amygdala of the right hemisphere is clearly visible, while the left hemisphere is at rest at this time. For women it's the opposite. When they are stressed, their left amygdala is activated. For this reason, men better remember the essence of what happened, and women notice all the emotional details.
The male brain is better at recognizing male emotions. This was found out after the experiment. Men were more accurate in recognizing the emotions of people depicted in photographs when they were also men. Women reproduce experienced emotions better and faster. They have more vivid memories of experiences, such as a first date or a memorable vacation. Up to 45 years of age, women have better memory than men. However, after menopause, due to a decrease in estradiol, memory deteriorates. The ability to learn and absorb new information also decreases.
Teamwork
So, the following are the differences in the functioning of the male and female brain. Based on the results of the experiments, it was found that women can cooperate better if they know that other women are watching them at that moment. Men find it easier to work in a team large groups than in small ones. At the same time, it is easier for a couple of men to come to one compromise than for several women. However, in a man-woman couple, it is the lady who is more inclined to reach a compromise.
Sexual behavior
In respect of sexual desire The female brain and the male brain also work differently. The sexual signaling system in men works primarily visually. Therefore, any tangible or visual object can lead to sexual arousal. This explains why fetishists are more common among men, when a certain hair color, smell or image leads to sexual desire.
For women, things are a little more complicated. The difference is that they evaluate many characteristics of men, since the quality of future offspring will directly depend on their choice. On our resource you will find many other useful articles on similar topics. Never stop developing. Good luck!
Differences between the sexes and related discrimination is a topic that is particularly acute in 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 production process of the protein responsible for the architecture of the brain and determine: thinking; speech skills; type 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.
