The brains just look different: new study shows why women are more emotional and have poorer spatial orientation
A new study has confirmed the long-held belief that the brains of women and men are different from birth. Scientists have been able to explain why women are more emotional and have poorer spatial orientation.
In one of the largest studies of brain anatomy, experts scanned the heads of more than 500 babies. Interestingly, female newborns had more gray matter in their brains, while male newborns had more white one, DailyMail reports.
According to scientists, gray matter is mostly found in the outer layer of the brain, or cortex, and plays an important role in mental functions such as memory, emotions, and information processing.
Gray matter is found in the cortex and serves to process information.
Source: Shutterstock
But white matter, a paler tissue located closer to the center, speeds up the transmission of signals between cells and plays a crucial role in helping the body process information, experts say.
Therefore, women can better remember and process memories while having more emotional awareness. And men can better navigate and understand our physical environment.
White matter, a paler tissue in the brain, speeds up the transmission of signals between cells.
Source: Adobe
To find out more, the team of researchers examined data from the Developing Human Connectome project, a collaboration between leading colleges in London and the University of Oxford.
"Several of the sex differences we found at birth do, indeed, appear to extend into adulthood," said Yumnah Khan, lead author of the study from the University of Cambridge.
Another interesting fact of the analysis was that, on average, men's brains tended to be larger than women's, experts say.
The color-coded areas show brain regions that are significantly larger in women (red) and men (blue) after controlling for total brain volume.
Source: Biology of Sex Differences
"These differences do not imply the brains of males and females are better or worse. This research may be helpful in understanding other kinds of neurodiversity, such as the brain in children who are later diagnosed as autistic, since this is diagnosed more often in males," said Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, director of the University of Cambridge Autism Research Center and one of the study's authors.
A 2013 study at the University of Pennsylvania found "striking" differences in the neural connections between men and women. But a 2017 study showed that women have "more active brains than men," especially in the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in focusing and controlling impulses.
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