This’ll go down well in some quarters:
For a long time it was thought that the basic architecture of the brain was the same in both sexes, with behavioural differences between men and women put down to hormones and social pressures.
But now an increasing amount of evidence is suggesting that male and female brains are built from significantly different genetic blueprints.
According to latest research, there are also differences in the circuitry that wires them up and the chemicals that transmit messages in the brain.
Scientists now believe there is good evidence that there is not just one kind of human brain, but two – each designed for equally intelligent behaviour.
Such findings could help develop more gender-directed treatments for dementia and other brain-related disorders.
Dr Jill Goldstein and colleagues from Harvard Medical School measured and compared 45 brain regions in healthy men and women.
They found that parts of the frontal lobe, which houses decision-making and problem-solving functions, were proportionally larger in women, as was the area which regulates emotions.
Meanwhile, other studies have found that the hippocampus, which is involved in short-term memory and spatial navigation, is proportionally larger in women than in men, which may come as a surprise given women’s reputation as poor map-readers.
In comparison, in the men the proportionately larger areas included the parietal cortex, which processes signals from the sensory organs and is involved in space perception.
The amygdala region – which controls emotions and social and sexual behaviour – was also larger in men.
The New Scientist article, where the research is published, is subscription only.
Mick Hartley 
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