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The difference between men's and women's brains
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Published: September 25, 2008
Researchers think they have found in their studies of male and female brain structure — the answer to the complaint by many women that men "sometimes don't get it." Very few, if any, men haven't heard this statement from their wife. Also, many wives complain about husbands not listening or being so engrossed in television or the computer that it is like talking to a telephone pole — there is absolutely no response.
Research has shown brain images taken while men and women are talking to each other. According to the researchers, lighted areas of the brain on the MRIs indicate brain activity. When you look at the MRIs, men have only four areas of brain activity, while women have approximately 16 lighted areas.
This accounts for the common knowledge that most women are better at multitasking than men.
Women have the great capacity to attend to more than one task at a time. They can grade papers, keep up with a television program, talk to a child about homework and cook a meal all at the same time. For a man, it would feel totally overwhelming doing these many tasks at once.
It is almost like a man's brain is compartmentalized and there is a wall between each compartment. Neurologist Robert Gorski at the University of California confirmed that the corpus callosum (the nerve connections between the right and left hemispheres of the brain) is 30 percent more highly developed in the female brain than the male brain. This means information flows easier from one side of the brain to the other in a female brain, allowing her to focus on more than one thing at a time. As a child, I remember my mother used to say, "You have to hit him (my dad) in the head with a two-by-four to get his attention." I now understand what she meant!
Researchers are mixed about whether this biological difference in male/female brain structure is due to natural development of brain structure or whether it is the result of male/female roles assigned historically. Men traditionally were programmed to be hunters. They would go out to track down and kill an animal so the family could eat. To accomplish this task, a man had to be able to focus on one task.
If he failed at this task, his family might starve. Everything else had to be put on the back burner of his mind. Meanwhile, the female partner was back home, tending to multiple children, gathering sides to go with the deer meat, talking to the other women in the village, preparing dry food to last through the winter, plus a dozen other tasks.
So, it is true, sometimes men just don't get it. They are like a TV that has only one channel and, if you are not on that channel, you are on the back burner. It may have little to do with whether he loves you or not. It has more to do with the way his brain functions.
Next week, we will explore "Why Women Can't Read Maps."
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