Brain Quiz

I thought it might be fun to read a few facts about how your brain operates, and more specifically the differences in how men's vs women's brains work. It might help you get thru the holiday season more easily as you come to understand one another.

Who has more total brain cells- men or women?
Correct answer is ........men. Even when corrected for increased total body weight. It has been estimated that men have about four percent more neurons than women do. However, just so you women don't groan too loudly, it is the women who have a greater number of cellular connections than men. This means that women have greater access to both sides of their brains
So in practical terms which you may find useful, it is the men who are more detail oriented and who get more directly to the point. Women, on the other hand are more fluent, thus women usually have more to say. In my work as a therapist I often would help couples with communication, including explaining that when a man says "so what's the point" he was not trying to insult his female partner, his brain simply operates from that perspective. And that a woman tends to have more of a need to paint things in great detail because they access both sides of the brain, thus giving them more perspective and more to talk about.

Have you ever seen a man do this: he is presented with a problem in finding his way while driving and he turns down the radio . This is an example of how a man's wiring has him preferring to do one task at a time (thus not listening to the car radio and reading a map) in a rather compartmentalized manner. In contrast, a women usually can multi-task (due to those extra connections in the brain.) And a woman knows when they are lost because she has access to the whole brain. Even comedians joke about the man not asking for directions!

Men's and women's brains differ also in the emotional center. In this area, the women have the larger component compared to men. This makes bonding easier for women and in general is why women tend to have more and need more friends and social relationships. It probably is no surprise that the nesting instinct is more pronounced in women and she has a greater need to have her home in order. It is also the women who will feel more off balance if the couple relocates.


Her are some interesting odds and ends about our brains.

Who reads facial expressions better? (women)
Who has a sharper sense of taste and smell (women)
Greater blood pressure reactivity to sexually arousing pictures (men)
Better at solving math problems (men)
Judges speed better (men)
Recognizes when problems are present in a relationship (women)
Tend to be more unreasonably optimistic (men)
Better peripheral vision (women)
More responsive to sex hormones (men)
Do men or women lie more? (men)
Who are the better liars? (women)

I hope you had fun learning about the differences in how the male and female brain works. The information will hopefully assist you in recognizing that the differences in how we think, communicate and present feelings are basically because of how we are wired, and not to be taken personally. In addition, knowing about these differences can help you to understand those of the opposite sex better so that you can have a more rewarding relationship.

Until next time
Dr. DyAnn