Male & Female Brains – Why Differences in Brain Activities

Differences in Male and Female Brain Activities

Introduction:

Cognition or brain activities when discussed with reference to gender we find that there are few distinguished women compared to men when it comes to the world of work. But is not because women are less talented than men, but because there are social, cultural, and at times some biological constraints that restrict a woman. Though men's brain is 10% larger than a female brain, it does not impact intelligence.

Following are the two major differences in male and female brains:

• Hemispheric Difference

• Electrical Activity

Hemispheric Difference:

Right from infancy women have superiority over verbal or linguistic abilities. In Eastern societies, we do not find any significant research, but in Western societies, studies show:

• Girls utter their first word sooner than boys.
• Their pronunciation becomes clear early as compared to boys.
• Girls use mature sentences earlier than boys
• At the age of 18 months, the average percentage of understandable words was 14 for boys and 38 for girls
• At 24 months for boys, it is 49 words and for girls, it is 78 words.
• Girls of preschool age have a larger vocabulary than boys of the same age.
• The proportion of speech disorders among boys is higher than among girls
• This difference in verbal ability becomes more obvious from adolescence to high school.

However, when it comes to reading no significant differences are found among boys and girls. When males and females of varying age groups were given to write on the same topic, females write more quickly, but definitely, there was a clear difference in the vocabulary used by them. Castle in 1913 rightly pointed out that a large number of women known for great achievement are women.

Females being more verbal may have a left hemisphere advantage, whereas males having more spatial have a right hemisphere advantage as proved by neuropsychological tests. Following are the major findings of these tests

• Females have less brain specialization for spatial and linguistic functions as compared to males.
• Females can work easier on tasks that involve two different activities, whereas men are not so good.
• Both sexes mature differently when it comes to hemispheric development.
• Right-handed boys develop their right hemispheric abilities more quickly, whereas right-handed girls develop their left hemispheric abilities more quickly.
• The same is true in left-handed children.

Females have more grey matter in their brains that help them to process information in the brain. This grey matter is located in the regions of the brain, which are connected with muscle control and sensory perception.

In addition to brain-processing patterns, men and women have different brain chemistry. While both process the same neurochemicals, they process them differently. For example, serotonin - a chemical connected to happiness and depression - does not process the same in women. This could help explain why women are more vulnerable to anxiety and depression.

Electrical Activity:

Female brains are more activated compared to male brains.

The electrical activity of the human brain is monitored during the exposure with different short videos of 7 minutes duration. Significant differences were observed between male and female brains in temporal areas. Females produced significant increases in frontocentral delta and theta power. This shows that females have an expression of appreciation. The decrease in alpha power in general shows that they demand more attention.

Differences in genetic makeup may lead to a higher risk of developing certain health issues. Although this is a continuous field of research, some correlations may exist between hormones, such as testosterone or estrogen, and particular health conditions. Depression, stress, and anxiety, all of which are more common in women, are other factors that can lead to additional health concerns such as stroke.

These genetic differences may develop certain health issues in both sexes. There is a correlation between hormones like estrogen and testosterone with health conditions. Anxiety and depression are more common in women. This leads to other health issues like stroke. While men three times more suffer from the antisocial disorder and develop alcohol dependence.

Hormones play an important role because they sensitize a brain to stimuli. For example, males are inclined toward hard games while females are wired for soft games.

Conclusion:

Differences between male and female brains are a result of multiple factors combined in a complex way. We cannot mention a single factor for this difference - it is not only society or biology that is responsible for it. Further advanced research will help us to understand it completely.