The men vs. women war is probably the longest, widely discussed, terrifying yet sarcastically hilarious wars of all time. The differences between women and men are not only well-documented, but frequently at the heart of jokes, anecdotes, and good-natured (and not so good-natured) ribbing. Experts have discovered that there are actually differences in the way women’s and men’s brains are structured and in the way they react to events and stimuli. From ‘who is stronger than who?’ to ‘Sush, what do you know! You’re a man/woman!’, every bit of such arguments and discussions are not things that come by and by, but are genetically imprinted into your brains.There are 7 very significant differences about men and women. Human relationships, problem solving vs. creativity, mathematical abilities, reaction to stress, brain-size, pain, and susceptibility to disorders.
Human Relationships Communication is a woman’s forte, as you can say. Focusing on how to create a solution that works for the group, talking through issues, and utilizes non-verbal cues such as tone, emotion, and empathy whereas men tend to be more task-oriented, less talkative , and more isolated. It is a true fact. Most men do not have the insight to human emotion like women do. Which even pushes them to memorize a somewhat called, ‘women’s language’ rather than picking up the sentiments strait away. Similarly, women sometimes get too carried away by such emotions, thus making them prone to acting completely on them. Men have a more difficult time understanding emotions that are not explicitly verbalized, while women tend to intuit emotions and emotional cues. These differences explain why men and women sometimes have difficulty communicating and why men-to-men friendships look different from friendships among women.more
Problem solving
Just the way we do things Haven’t you noticed that men usually solve problems in a more ‘task-oriented method’ rather than in a more creative and emotional manner. This is probably because men tend to process better in the left hemisphere of the brain while women tend to process equally well between the two hemispheres. When people develop a dominance toward one side of their brain, they tend to have certain characteristics and areas of interest in common. The left side of the brain is often thought of as the logical, thinking side. Also, people of left brain dominance tend to choose similar occupations. People who are left brain dominant usually prefer Classical Music, are more co-ordinated with the right side of their body, prefers instructions to be done verbally, are stronger at logical subjects such as maths and science, don’t enjoy ‘clowning around’, usually remember things only when specifically studied, enjoys realistic literature and are mainly rational.
They also prefer doing things more systematically. Since men usually function with the left side, they are usually, like the things mentioned above. That is why you usually see men fulfilled the occupations below, rather than a female: Lab scientist, Banker, Mathematician, bacteriologist etc. Women on the other side use both sides of the brain, thus, they have a balance of what is mentioned above as well as more creative and emotional. More right-brained inclined people are thought of as the dreamers, the artists, and the musicians of the world. Just because they are not as good with numbers and remembering facts does not mean that they are “dumber” than a left brain person. They just have their strength in different areas.
People who are right brain dominant usually prefer rock music, better equipped with the left side of their body, prefer visual instructions, strong at artistic subjects, able to multitask, prefer group activities, imaginative yet most of the time unrealistic, enjoys writing fiction, are better at geometry in comparison to algebra, are skilled in showing relationships between ideas, has a preference for summarizing over outlining and are usually philosophical.
That is why the majority of women are into the Wildlife industry, artists, actresses or beauticians. This difference explains why men are generally stronger with left-brain activities and approach problem-solving from a task-oriented perspective while women typically solve problems more creatively and are more aware of feelings while communicating.
There is an area of the brain called the inferior-parietal lobule (IPL) is typically significantly larger in men, especially on the left side, than in women. Firstly, as previously mentioned the left side of the brain specifically tackles logical and sequential problems, thus men are already more logically wired compared to women.
On top of which, the IPL is the section of the brain that controls mental mathematical ability, and probably explains why men frequently perform higher in mathematical tasks than do women. Interestingly, this is the same area of Einstein’s brain that was discovered to be abnormally large. The IPL also processes sensory information, and the larger right side in women allows them to focus on, “specific stimuli, such as a baby crying in the night.”
Reaction to stress
Have you ever been in a scenario where you are walking down a road and a complete stranger just shoved you? What would a man do? And what would a woman do? A man would probably grab the stranger by the collar, maybe scream at him and say, “Oi, man!!! What’s your problem?” and what a woman would do, “oh, I am so sorry!” Men tend to have a “fight or flight” response to stress situations while women seem to approach these situations with a “tend and befriend” strategy. Psychologist Shelley E. Taylor coined the phrase “tend and befriend” after recognizing that during times of stress women take care of themselves and their children (tending) and form strong group bonds (befriending). The reason for these different reactions to stress is rooted in hormones. The hormone oxytocin is released during stress in everyone.
However, estrogen tends to enhance oxytocin resulting in calming and nurturing feelings whereas testosterone, which men produce in high levels during stress, reduces the effects of oxytocin.
Brain size
Rushton and Jensen (2010) argue that larger brains are also expensive evolutionarily since they take time to grow and requires larger bodies to produce and sustain them. So an increased brain size would not have evolved unless it gives great evolutionary advantages. They further argue that any decrease in average brain size has been paralleled by a corresponding decrease in average body size suggesting no change in the ratio of brain to body size.
The relationship remained after controlling for body weight and body length, life span, length of gestation, age of weaning, age of eruption of first molar, age at complete dentition, age at sexual maturity, inter-birth interval, and body weight. Typically, men’s brains are 11-12% bigger than women’s brains. However, to most male’s dismay this size difference has absolutely nothing to do with intelligence, but is explained by the difference in physical size between men and women. Men need more neurons to control their greater muscle mass and larger body size, thus generally have a larger brain.
Pain
Men and women perceive pain differently. In studies, women require more morphine than men to reach the same level of pain reduction. Women are also more likely to vocalize their pain and to seek treatment for their pain than are men. The area of the brain that is activated during pain is the amygdala, and researchers have discovered that in men, the right amygdala is activated and in women, the left amygdala is activated.
The right amygdala has more connections with areas of the brain that control external functions while the right amygdala has more connections with internal functions. Also it is because the painkiller morphine works differently in the brains and spinal cords of males and females. Morphine binds to mu opioid receptors - cell membrane proteins that influence the behavior of cells - in order to decrease pain. Although this protein is located in the same brain region, males seem to have higher levels of the receptor than females, and it is expressed differently. Researchers suspect that this distinction may account for sex differences in pain relief. This difference probably explains why women perceive pain more intensely than do men.
Susceptibility to disorders
Because of the way men and women use the two hemispheres of the brain differently, there are some disorders that men and women are susceptible to in different ways. Men are more apt to have dyslexia or other language problems.
If women have dyslexia, they are more likely to compensate for it. Women, on the other hand, are more susceptible to mood disorders such as depression and anxiety. While handedness is not a disorder, these brain tendencies also explain why more men are left-handed than are women. Men are also more likely to be diagnosed with autism, ADHD, and Tourette’s Syndrome.
Male and female discrimination originated from the fact that, males think that they are more intelligent or more capable of being in certain occupations. Even though it is true that men excel in cetin professions, women are just as successful only on a different front. On top of which, this idea is more psychological rather than biological.
This article gives an insight that even though there are many differences in each others brains; women and men are equal in the amount of work they do and are both capable of being equally successful.
Daily News - Chrisni Mendis
