10 Big Differences Between Men's and Women's Brains - Part 2
By Amber Hensley
June 16, 2009.
The differences between women and men are well-documented. Experts have discovered that there are actually differences in the way women's and men's brains are structured and in the way they react to events and stimuli.
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4. Reaction to stress.
Men tend to have a "fight or flight" response to stress situations while women seem to approach these situations with a "tend and befriend" strategy.
Psychologist Shelley E. Taylor coined the phrase "tend and befriend" after recognizing that during times of stress women take care of themselves and their children (tending) and form strong group bonds (befriending). The reason for these different reactions to stress is rooted in hormones. The hormone oxytocin is released during stress in everyone. However, estrogen tends to enhance oxytocin resulting in calming and nurturing feelings whereas testosterone, which men produce in high levels during stress, reduces the effects of oxytocin.
5. Language.
Two sections of the brain responsible for language were found to be larger in women than in men, indicating one reason that women typically excel in language-based subjects and in language-associated thinking.
Additionally, men typically only process language in their dominant hemisphere, whereas women process language in both hemispheres. This difference offers a bit of protection in case of a stroke. Women may be able to recover more fully from a stroke affecting the language areas in the brain while men may not have this same advantage.
6. Emotions.
Women typically have a larger deep limbic system than men, which allows them to be more in touch with their feelings and better able to express them, which promotes bonding with others. Because of this ability to connect, more women serve as caregivers for children.
The down side to this larger deep limbic system is that it also opens women up to depression, especially during times of hormonal shifts such as after childbirth or during a woman's menstrual cycle.
7. Brain size.
Typically, men's brains are 11-12% bigger than women's brains. This size difference has absolutely nothing to do with intelligence, but is explained by the difference in physical size between men and women. Men need more neurons to control their greater muscle mass and larger body size, thus generally have a larger brain.
http://www.mastersofhealthcare.com/blog/2009/10-big-differences-between-mens-and-womens-brains/ |