Male and Female Brains Are Indeed Different, Say Scientists

Having spent countless hours in workshops and having studied more than 1,000 brain scans, scientists came to a conclusion that confirms the old common belief stating that male brain works in a different way than the female one.

The map of the “neural circuit” of the average female brain contains a larger number of connections between the left and right hemispheres, contrasted with the male one, where the connection in regions between the back and the front of the brain is predominantly stronger.

Ragini Verma, researcher at University of Pennsylvania, speaking at the Guardian, admitted that the big surprise was that the findings essentially confirmed stereotypes. That is, men are “made” for perception and coordination, while women have enhanced social skills and memory, which explains why they better cope with multitasking.

According to Verma, the left side of the brain is responsible for logical thinking while the right one – for intuitive thinking. So, when a tasks engages both hemispheres, women are do it better. It also explains why women are better listeners. Another impressive discovery was that the male and the female brains are essentially complementary.

Scientists found how the parts of the brain “communicate” with each other in men and women. In men, signals are transmitted mainly within a certain brain hemisphere (blue lines), and in woman, on the contrary, – between the hemispheres (orange lines).

The study on the way the brain of each sex is wired can provide useful information to scientists to explore the abnormalities associated with mental disorders such as schizophrenia and depression.

View the original article here

Male and Female Brains Are Indeed Different, Say Scientists

Having spent countless hours in workshops and having studied more than 1,000 brain scans, scientists came to a conclusion that confirms the old common belief stating that male brain works in a different way than the female one.

The map of the “neural circuit” of the average female brain contains a larger number of connections between the left and right hemispheres, contrasted with the male one, where the connection in regions between the back and the front of the brain is predominantly stronger.

Ragini Verma, researcher at University of Pennsylvania, speaking at the Guardian, admitted that the big surprise was that the findings essentially confirmed stereotypes. That is, men are “made” for perception and coordination, while women have enhanced social skills and memory, which explains why they better cope with multitasking.

According to Verma, the left side of the brain is responsible for logical thinking while the right one – for intuitive thinking. So, when a tasks engages both hemispheres, women are do it better. It also explains why women are better listeners. Another impressive discovery was that the male and the female brains are essentially complementary.

Scientists found how the parts of the brain “communicate” with each other in men and women. In men, signals are transmitted mainly within a certain brain hemisphere (blue lines), and in woman, on the contrary, – between the hemispheres (orange lines).

The study on the way the brain of each sex is wired can provide useful information to scientists to explore the abnormalities associated with mental disorders such as schizophrenia and depression.

View the original article here

Kids are Like Scientists, and Not Just Mad Ones

Filed under: In The News

Credit: Getty Images

"Experiment. Make it your motto day and night. Experiment. And it will lead you to the light." -- Cole Porter

We commonly refer to something simple as mere child's play.

However, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University say there is nothing "mere" about child's play. Children are actually performing complex experiments.

They are little scientists, Wired magazine reports.

To prove just how scientifically children approach their work, researchers gave a group of them a toy that lights up and plays music when the child places certain beads on. When children didn't know which beads would activate the toy -- what scientists call "ambiguous evidence" -- they tested each variable in turn.

Laura Schulz, a professor at MIT, tells Wired it's like someone trying unsuccessfully to open a door with a key.

"You might change the position of the key, you might change the key, but you're not going to change both at once," she says.

Researchers say their study begins to "bridge the gap between scientific inquiry and child's play."

Remember that the next time you find flour scattered all over the kitchen. Scientific discovery can be messy.

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