It has been said that boys will be boys and girls will be girls. But what are the true differences between the two sexes when it comes to the brain? We now know the answer thanks to one of the largest functional brain-imaging studies ever done. Amen Clinics, which has built the world’s largest database of functional brain scans, compared 46,034 brain SPECT scans to identify the differences between male and female brains. The study analyzed a total of 128 regions of the brain, and in this blog, you’ll discover the main ways male and female brains work differently. These differences help us understand some of the unique strengths and vulnerabilities of the female brain and give us important clues on how to optimize it.
ANALYZING MALE AND FEMALE BRAIN SCANS
The study, which was published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, involved a brain imaging technology called SPECT, which looks at blood flow and activity patterns. In general, SPECT reveals 3 important
things: areas of the brain with healthy activity, too much activity, and too little activity. For the study, the researchers performed 2 sets of brain scans —one at rest and one while performing a concentration task—on 119 healthy participants as well as 26,683 patients.
Female Brains are More Active
On brain scans, female brains showed significantly more activity in many regions. Because of the increased activity, females often exhibit greater strengths in the areas of:
Empathy
Intuition
Collaboration
Self-control
Appropriate worrying
This increased activity, however, also makes females more vulnerable to a number of mental health issues. For example, women experience and depression at twice the rate as men, and they are also twice as likely as men to struggle with anxiety. These brain differences also increase the likelihood that females will have insomnia, eating disorders, and chronic pain.
Key Differences in the Male Brain vs. Female Brain
The Amen Clinics study also found that females have stronger activity in an area of the brain called the prefrontal cortex, which is involved with planning, judgment, empathy, and self-control. Think of the prefrontal cortex as the brain’s brake. It helps keep you on track toward reaching your goals and stops you from saying or doing things you shouldn’t. When the prefrontal cortex is low in activity, which is more common in males, according to the study, people can struggle with short attention spans, distractibility, problems with impulse control, and in some cases ADD/ADHD.
When it works too hard, as it often does in women, it’s like the parking brake is always on, and you can get stuck on certain thoughts or behaviors, such as worrying or holding grudges. An area deep in the prefrontal cortex called the anterior cingulate gyrus is also more active in females. It is involved with error detection, which is why women can sometimes focus too much on what is wrong in their life—their
relationships, careers, children, weight, and so on.
Women & Serotonin
A brain-imaging study from Canada showed that the rate of serotonin synthesis in women is 52% lower compared with men. This is very important as serotonin helps calm and relax the prefrontal cortex. When serotonin levels are too low, people often struggle with the following:
Anxiety
Depression
Pain syndromes
Trouble sleeping
Obsessive worry
Carbohydrate cravings
Other brain-imaging research has found that females also have more connections than men between the right and left hemispheres of the brain, improving communication between analytic and intuition. There is also increased activity in the regions of the brain responsible for gut feelings and intuition. They also have more activity in the limbic or emotional and bonding areas of the brain, which may explain why women tend to be primary caretakers for children and the elderly and why they often excel at collaboration.
5 Ways to Unleash the Power of the Female Brain
Based on these differences, female brains tend to have 5 special strengths: empathy, intuition, collaboration, self-control, and a little worry.
Balance empathy with self-care.
Women are doing more today than ever before, and the constant stress is stealing their health and making them sick. Women tend to make health appointments for everyone else, but not themselves. Make stress-reduction part of your daily routine and consider the supplements l-theanine, magnesium, and Holy Basil (adaptogenic herb), which can help lower stress.
2. Tap into your Intuition.
Those gut feelings are an important skill that keeps us alive and gives women an important edge. If you tap into it, you can get to solutions faster. To do so, pay attention to your physical sensations. Do you have a pit in your stomach? Are you getting chills? Do you have goosebumps? Tune into these signs to help guide your decisions.
3. Boost collaboration by working to include others.
This is why women often make great bosses. They have gifts of empathy, collaboration, and intuition and also tend to make fewer risky decisions when stressed. Create teams to help you reach your goals.4. Boost serotonin to enhance your moods.
Healthy serotonin levels are associated with better moods. Your body needs the essential amino acid tryptophan in order to produce serotonin. Try adding foods that are rich in tryptophan, such as chicken, beef, turkey, salmon, pork, pumpkin seeds, and eggs.
5. Balance worry with wellness.
Some anxiety is good if it keeps you on track, but too much is painful. To get your nerves under control, avoid anxiety-inducing foods and try natural solutions to calm anxiety.Amen Clinics
844-448-1094
www.amenclinics.com