Men and women have different brains - say scientists

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Men and women have different brains - say scientists

#1  Postby HomerJay » Dec 03, 2013 10:58 am

Scientists have drawn on nearly 1,000 brain scans to confirm what many had surely concluded long ago: that stark differences exist in the wiring of male and female brains.

Maps of neural circuitry showed that on average women's brains were highly connected across the left and right hemispheres, in contrast to men's brains, where the connections were typically stronger between the front and back regions.

Ragini Verma, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, said the greatest surprise was how much the findings supported old stereotypes, with men's brains apparently wired more for perception and co-ordinated actions, and women's for social skills and memory, making them better equipped for multitasking.

"If you look at functional studies, the left of the brain is more for logical thinking, the right of the brain is for more intuitive thinking. So if there's a task that involves doing both of those things, it would seem that women are hardwired to do those better," Verma said. "Women are better at intuitive thinking. Women are better at remembering things. When you talk, women are more emotionally involved – they will listen more."

She added: "I was surprised that it matched a lot of the stereotypes that we think we have in our heads. If I wanted to go to a chef or a hairstylist, they are mainly men."

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013 ... ifferently

Typical male brain:

Image

Typical female brain:

Image
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Re: Men and women have different brains - say scientists

#2  Postby archibald » Dec 03, 2013 11:09 am

HomerJay wrote:

normal brain:

Image

compared to:

Image


Major league typo? :mrgreen:

Top one is typical man's brain. Bottom one is typical woman's
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Re: Men and women have different brains - say scientists

#3  Postby The_Piper » Dec 03, 2013 11:16 am

^^^ :lol: Good observation.

She added: "I was surprised that it matched a lot of the stereotypes that we think we have in our heads. If I wanted to go to a chef or a hairstylist, they are mainly men."

I thought hairstylists were mostly women? :scratch: I haven't been to one in a decade or so, admittedly.
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Re: Men and women have different brains - say scientists

#4  Postby Emmeline » Dec 03, 2013 11:22 am

Male and female brains showed few differences in connectivity up to the age of 13, but became more differentiated in 14- to 17-year-olds.


Does anyone know if this due to hormones at puberty, social conditioning or both?
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Re: Men and women have different brains - say scientists

#5  Postby Agrippina » Dec 03, 2013 11:25 am

That test is done on neurotypical people. It says "typical." What about all the millions who aren't "typical?"

Emmeline wrote:
Male and female brains showed few differences in connectivity up to the age of 13, but became more differentiated in 14- to 17-year-olds.


Does anyone know if this due to hormones at puberty, social conditioning or both?


Again, how do hormones affect people who live in the world of average people but who are not typical in their behaviour? How does social conditioning affect them?
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Re: Men and women have different brains - say scientists

#6  Postby archibald » Dec 03, 2013 11:27 am

Male vs. female brain anatomy

Neurochemical differences

Male vs. female brain functionality

(wiki)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscien ... in_anatomy
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Re: Men and women have different brains - say scientists

#7  Postby HomerJay » Dec 03, 2013 11:28 am

archibald wrote:Major league typo? :mrgreen:

Top one is typical man's brain. Bottom one is typical woman's

:coffee:
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Re: Men and women have different brains - say scientists

#8  Postby archibald » Dec 03, 2013 11:30 am

HomerJay wrote:
archibald wrote:Major league typo? :mrgreen:

Top one is typical man's brain. Bottom one is typical woman's

:coffee:


Good idea. Have some coffee while proofreading. ;)
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Re: Men and women have different brains - say scientists

#9  Postby Agrippina » Dec 03, 2013 11:35 am

archibald wrote:Male vs. female brain anatomy

Neurochemical differences

Male vs. female brain functionality

(wiki)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscien ... in_anatomy


Interesting. But again, what about people who are not neurotypical?
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Re: Men and women have different brains - say scientists

#10  Postby HomerJay » Dec 03, 2013 11:35 am

archibald wrote:
HomerJay wrote:
archibald wrote:Major league typo? :mrgreen:

Top one is typical man's brain. Bottom one is typical woman's

:coffee:


Good idea. Have some coffee while proofreading. ;)

No proofreading necessary.

:coffee:
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Re: Men and women have different brains - say scientists

#11  Postby HomerJay » Dec 03, 2013 11:36 am

Agrippina wrote:
archibald wrote:Male vs. female brain anatomy

Neurochemical differences

Male vs. female brain functionality

(wiki)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscien ... in_anatomy


Interesting. But again, what about people who are not neurotypical?

What about them?

What do outliers say about the mode?
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Re: Men and women have different brains - say scientists

#12  Postby archibald » Dec 03, 2013 11:37 am

HomerJay wrote:
archibald wrote:
HomerJay wrote:
archibald wrote:Major league typo? :mrgreen:

Top one is typical man's brain. Bottom one is typical woman's

:coffee:


Good idea. Have some coffee while proofreading. ;)

No proofreading necessary.

:coffee:


So, you actually meant to label the 'typical male brain' as 'normal brain'?
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Re: Men and women have different brains - say scientists

#13  Postby The_Piper » Dec 03, 2013 11:38 am

What's the stereotype about men being hairstylists? Maybe she meant barber?
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Re: Men and women have different brains - say scientists

#14  Postby archibald » Dec 03, 2013 11:40 am

HomerJay wrote:
Agrippina wrote:
archibald wrote:Male vs. female brain anatomy

Neurochemical differences

Male vs. female brain functionality

(wiki)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscien ... in_anatomy


Interesting. But again, what about people who are not neurotypical?

What about them?

What do outliers say about the mode?


Homer, do you even know what an outlier is, or the limitations of using a mode?
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Re: Men and women have different brains - say scientists

#15  Postby HomerJay » Dec 03, 2013 11:41 am

archibald wrote:
HomerJay wrote:
archibald wrote:
HomerJay wrote:
:coffee:


Good idea. Have some coffee while proofreading. ;)

No proofreading necessary.

:coffee:


So, you actually meant to label the 'typical male brain' as 'normal brain'?

4 posts later...
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Re: Men and women have different brains - say scientists

#16  Postby Cito di Pense » Dec 03, 2013 11:42 am

HomerJay wrote:
What do outliers say about the mode?


They help define it. What's the mode in a basket of apples and oranges? It's either apples or oranges, I think, but even then, it's only an orange or apple of a particular range of shape and size.
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Re: Men and women have different brains - say scientists

#17  Postby HomerJay » Dec 03, 2013 11:43 am

archibald wrote:
HomerJay wrote:
Agrippina wrote:
archibald wrote:Male vs. female brain anatomy

Neurochemical differences

Male vs. female brain functionality

(wiki)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscien ... in_anatomy


Interesting. But again, what about people who are not neurotypical?

What about them?

What do outliers say about the mode?


Homer, do you even know what an outlier is, or the limitations of using a mode?

Archi do you know what a banana is?
For me, the value of a climb is the sum of three inseparable elements, all equally important: aesthetics, history, and ethics

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Re: Men and women have different brains - say scientists

#18  Postby archibald » Dec 03, 2013 11:43 am

Agrippina wrote:

Interesting. But again, what about people who are not neurotypical?


What the distrobution is, we don't seem to know at this point, but yes, it matters.

One has to balance generalising with individual cases.

When you meet someone of the opposite gender you may have more in common with them than you have to differ. Presumption would be a bit dangerous.

That said, generalising may do quite a bit of explaining too, in general analyses.
Last edited by archibald on Dec 03, 2013 11:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Men and women have different brains - say scientists

#19  Postby archibald » Dec 03, 2013 11:45 am

HomerJay wrote:
archibald wrote:

So, you actually meant to label the 'typical male brain' as 'normal brain'?

4 posts later...


Cool. I shouldn't have given you the benefit of the doubt. We can stop this patter now. Unless you care to explain a bit better.
Last edited by archibald on Dec 03, 2013 11:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Men and women have different brains - say scientists

#20  Postby archibald » Dec 03, 2013 11:47 am

HomerJay wrote:
Archi do you know what a banana is?


It has pith. Like you.
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