Male and Female Brains are Wired Differently
A study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has confirmed what psychological tests have indicated for a long time, that men and women are each better at performing different types of mental tasks. Men excel at spatial tasks, whereas women excel when it comes to memory and intuition.
The study concluded that this is due to the amount of neural connections between the left and right sides of the brain in women whereas neural connections in mens’ brains were found within individual hemispheres. In other words, female brains are optimized for “interhemispheric communication” and male brains for “intrahemispheric communication.”
This difference in the wiring of the brain was found to occur during adolescence, at a time when other secondary sexual characteristics develop as the product of sex hormones.
Researchers hope this study will provide insights into the roots of neurological disorders, which are often sex-related. For instance, four out of five autism sufferers are male. Is something in men’s genes—or brain structure—causing the gap?
