Psychology Facts

▼ Boy VS Girl Brains ▼

》 Scientists have discovered approximately 100 gender differences in the brain, and the importance of these differences cannot be overstated.

》 Scientists generally study four primary areas of difference in male and female brains: processing, chemistry, structure, and activity.

》 Females often have a larger hippocampus, our human memory center. Females also often have a higher density of neural connections into the hippocampus. As a result, girls and women tend to input or absorb more sensorial and emotive information than males do.

》 Males tend to have a larger cerebellum, resulting in better sensory perception, coordination, and motor control; coupled with the higher levels of spinal fluid in the male system, messages between the brain and body tend to move more quickly and with less impulse control in males.

》 Some research has shown that in girls, the region of the brain that helps control language and emotion – called the caudate – tends to be larger. (This part of the brain becomes especially active when someone looks at a photo of a sweetheart.)

》 Male and female brains process the same neurochemicals but to different degrees and through gender-specific body-brain connections. Some dominant neurochemicals are serotonin, which, among other things, helps us sit still.

In part, because of differences in processing these chemicals, males on average tend to be less inclined to sit still for as long as females and tend to be more physically impulsive and aggressive.

》 Scientists with the National Institutes of Health are piecing together the results from the MRIs of brains of 500 healthy young boys and girls to try to answer some key questions about the development of young brains.

Girls were somewhat better at memorizing and reciting lists of words, and they were slightly better at tasks that required finger dexterity and quick thinking.

Boys had the upper hand with spatial tasks, such as arranging blocks to form patterns.

》 Boys speak their first word later than girls

》 Males tend, after reflecting more briefly on an emotive memory, to analyze it somewhat, then move onto the next task. During this process, they may also choose to change course and do something active and unrelated to feelings rather than analyze their feelings at all. Thus, observers may mistakenly believe that boys avoid feelings in comparison to girls or move to problem-solving too quickly.

》 Women have more connections going left and right across the two halves of the brain. This could give them an advantage in pulling together information from different sources and drawing conclusions.

》 Male brains have less oxytocin (the "tend and befriend" hormone) functionally present, resulting in males being less motivated biologically to please parents, teachers, and peers as they establish and maintain relationships.