10 Facts about a Woman's Brain - Part 2
By Robin Nixon LiveScience.com Staff Writer
Despite the trumpets of women's lib, science suggests sex differences are innate. Women, apparently, are not curvy versions of men sporting high-heeled shoes.
Here is Part 2 of the 10 things every man should know about women's brains.
4. She responds to pain and anxiety differently
Brain-imaging studies over the last 10 years have shown that male and female brains respond differently to pain and fear. And, women's brains may be the more sensitive of the two.
The female brain is not only more responsive to small amounts of stress but is less able to habituate to high levels of stress, said Debra Bangasser of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, describing her recent research looking at molecular changes in the brain. Bangasser's research was conducted in rats but is considered potentially applicable to humans.
Stress sensitivity may have some benefits; it shifts one's mental state from being narrowly focused to being more flexibly and openly aware. But if the anxiety is prolonged, it can be damaging. Such findings may help explain why women are more prone to depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and other anxiety disorders, the researchers told LiveScience.
The research was published in the June 2010 issue of Molecular Psychiatry.
5. She hates conflict (but lack of response even more)
Women may also have evolved extra-sensitivity to interpersonal cues as a way to avoid conflict, a state that can feel intolerable to women, according to Brizendine. The flood of chemicals that takes over the female brain during a conflict -- especially within an intimate relationship - is almost on the same order as a seizure, she explains.
Possibly because of their overachievement in "mind reading," women often find blank expressions, or a lack of response, completely unbearable. A young girl will go to great lengths trying to get a response from a mime while a boy will not be nearly so determined, Brizendine said. For females in particular, a negative response may be better than no response at all.
6. She is easily turned off
"A women's sex drive is much more easily upset than a guy's," Brizendine said.
For women to get in the mood, and especially to have an orgasm, certain areas of her brain have to shut off. And any number of things can turn them back on.
A woman may refuse a man's advances because she is angry, feeling distrustful -- or even, because her feet are chilly, studies show. Pregnancy, caring for small children and menopause can also take a toll on a woman's sex drive (although some women experience a renewed interest in sex after The Change.)
Best advice for a turned-on dude? Plan ahead.
"For guys, foreplay is everything that happens three minutes before insertion. For women, it is everything that happens 24 hours beforehand," Brizendine said.
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