Today in ‘we’re totally here for this’ news, recent research found that women exhibit significantly more activity in more regions of the brain than men.
Scientists from Amen Clinics in Newport Beach, California, looked at over 46,000 brain imaging studies in hopes of better understanding how neurological disorders affect the sexes differently.
For example, while men exhibit a higher risk for ADHD, women receive diagnoses of Alzheimer’s, depression and anxiety disorders more frequently.
Researchers asked subjects both with and without psychiatric conditions to perform cognitive tasks or rest while they measured blood flow in their brains. The results published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease included some interesting differences that seem to support what ladies already know.
Women displayed way more brain activity in the prefrontal cortex, the region that deals with decision making, focus and impulse control. The finding may explain why they ‘exhibit greater strengths’ when it comes to empathy, intuition, collaboration and self-control, according to Science Daily.
Female brains also showed more blood flow in the limbic region, which controls basic functions like hunger and thirst but is also thought to influence parenting and attachment.
While women showed greater activity overall because, you know, girl power, men did manage to show some advantages in a few regions. Their results suggested greater use of the visual centres of the brain, which process things like faces, objects and colours.
Although anyone with two X chromosomes has to love these scientists’ conclusions, pretty much everyone can get on board with this study at the end of the day. Better understanding how men and women think differently puts scientists one step closer to treating neurological diseases — and hopefully preventing them altogether.
