In studies examining connections within the brain, it has been found that women tend to have stronger connections side to side, which could lead to better intuitive thinking, analyzing, and drawing of conclusions.
"What we have found is that women, in many different tasks, process information about five times faster than men, and use much less of their brain to do identical cognitive performance." But apparently, female brain speed and efficiency come at a cost.
In the biggest ever study examining differences between the sexes, scientists have concluded that women really are more empathetic while men are more analytical and logical.
Research found that men tend to use one side of their brain (particularly the left side for verbal reasoning) while women tend to use both cerebral areas for visual, verbal and emotional responses. These differences in brain use cause a difference in behavior between men and women.
Studies have also shown sex differences in certain cognitive tasks, like the ability to recognize faces. But what underlies these differences isn't fully understood. Researchers have observed sex differences in the volume of certain brain regions in animals.
Adjusted for total brain size (men's are bigger), a woman's hippocampus, critical to learning and memorization, is larger than a man's and works differently. Conversely, a man's amygdala, associated with the experiencing of emotions and the recollection of such experiences, is bigger than a woman's.
It does mean, though, that men really are more likely to be right-brained (more intuitive) or left-brained (more logical) than women. The strong link with the cerebellum might make men more action oriented, better at tasks that require quick response time or an "I-see-and-then-I-do" attitude.
Among humans, women's life span is almost 8% on average longer than men's life span. But among wild mammals, females in 60% of the studied species have, on average, 18.6% longer lifespans. The ratio is considerably different for different groups of mammals.
In fact, not only do girls mature faster than boys, scientists believe that their brains can develop up to ten years earlier! In a study performed by Newcastle University in England, it was discovered that as the brain matures it begins to remove neural connections that are stored which it does not think are important.
It is now recognized that there are no significant sex differences in general intelligence, though particular subtypes of intelligence vary somewhat between sexes. While some test batteries show slightly greater intelligence in males, others show slightly greater intelligence in females.
Middle-aged women have a better memory than men. They also process information faster than men. In the years that follow, however, both cognitive functions decline faster in women.
Men have stronger connections between brain areas for motor and spatial skills. That means males tend to do a better job at tasks that need hand-eye coordination and understanding where objects are in space, such as throwing a ball or hammering a nail. On average, male brains are about 10% larger than female brains.
(Not) All About Size. Although the male brain is 10 percent larger than the female brain, it does not impact intelligence. Despite the size difference, men's and women's brains are more alike than they are different. One area in which they do differ is the inferior-parietal lobule, which tends to be larger in men.
Discussion. In this sample of men and women who were matched by standing height and neck length, we found that women had significantly smaller external neck and vertebral dimensions and lower neck strength than men.
Women's brains are about 11% smaller than men's, in proportion to their body size. Smaller brains allow certain features, such as a slightly higher ratio of gray matter to white matter, and a higher ratio of connections between, versus within, cerebral hemispheres.
You may have even heard the term “golden brain” used to refer to people who use both sides of their brain equally. This is very similar to how most people are either right handed or left handed, and some people are even ambidextrous!
What are "left-brained" people like? They are described as logical, analytical, and orderly. The theory suggests that people who are left-brain dominant do well in careers that involve linear thinking, math, and verbal information. This includes careers such as accountant, scientist, or computer programmer.
Thus, physical evidence has revealed that the right hemisphere, while indeed the brain's more "emotional" side, is not solely responsible for processing the expression of emotions.
Females have language functioning in both sides of the brain. Males have a smaller corpus callosum resulting in more blood flow to the left side of the brain. As a whole, girls out perform boys in language skills and fine motor skills until puberty.
“Located in the left side of our brain is the masculine force. It is the part of us that is assertive, logical, analytical, doing, controlling, aggressive, striving, projecting, hard, organizing, rushing, thrusting, always pushing us to survive, and has its origin in our minds.
Female brains have four times the number of connections between the left and right sides of the brain, which means they have to process information four times faster than men and take in four times as many signals that must be filtered.
Overall women have it harder than men. Women go through many different changes with their bodies that impact them on a daily basis. Although there may be arguments that men have it hard, women definitely have it harder.