Men and women’s brains are wired differently, study finds

Photo courtesy of Ragini Verma, PhD, Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences

Men are from Mars, women are from Venus. This old saying might seem exaggerated or outdated, but it speaks to the differences in the ways that men and women operate. Differences, it turns out, traced to how men and women’s brains are wired, according to a new study from Penn Medicine.

The study, published in Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, concludes that the differences comes down to the way neural connections are made in the brain. In women, connections were strongest between hemispheres. In men, they were strongest within each hemisphere. This could explain why men perform better at single tasks, whereas women are stronger multitaskers.

Drawing from almost 1,000 brain scans, this is one of the largest studies to look at how healthy male and female brains are wired. Beyond better understanding the neurological differences between men and women, scientists hope that these scans can also provide insight into how connectivity abnormalities could affect brain disorders.

“Detailed connectome maps of the brain will not only help us better understand the differences between how men and women think, but it will also give us more insight into the roots of neuropsychiatric disorders, which are often sex related,” Dr. Ruben Gur, co-author of the study, said in a statement.

H/T Sarah Corapi