What Sex Is Your Brain?

"Why can't a woman be more like a man?" goes the exasperated lament. Science is searching for an answer, and researchers have presented some intriguing possibilities. Men and women are different, they theorize, because the slight differences in the way their brains are constructed lead the sexes to process information in subtly different ways.

That might be why men generally do better than women in tests of spatial ability -- being able to picture objects' shapes, positions and proportions accurately in the mind's eye. Similarly, boys tend to outperform girls in mathematics involving abstract concepts of space, relationships and theory.

On the other hand, girls usually say their first words and learn to speak in sentences earlier than boys. Some studies have found that women speak in longer, more complex sentences than men. Also, boys outnumber girls in remedial reading classes. Stuttering and other speech defects occur more frequently among males.

What are the anatomical differences in the brains of men and women that might cause these variations? In tests of brains obtained after autopsy, some researchers have found that in women, part of the corpus callosum, the bundle of fibres linking the left and right hemispheres, is bigger in relation to overall brain weight than in men. This might allow more information to be exchanged between the two sides.

If so, perhaps it accords with the theory that in men, the left hemisphere of the brain is more specialized for verbal abilities than it is in women. And men seem to use the right side of their brain when working on an abstract problem, while women use both sides.

How this might influence masculine and feminine modes of thinking, science doesn't yet know. We do know, though, that brain development in the foetus is affected by hormones as well as genetics. And most of us grow up to think at least a little like the opposite sex.

The following quiz, based on surveys of some 2000 people could help you find out how male or female YOUR brain is:

What Sex is Your Brain?

Test

1. You hear an indistinct meow. Without looking around, how well can you place the cat?

   (a) If you think about it, you can point to it.

   (b) You can point straight to it.

   (c) You don't know if you can point to it.

2. How good are you at remembering a song you've just heard?

   (a) You find it easy and you can sing part of it in tune.

   (b) You can do it only if it's simple and rhythmical.

   (c) You find it difficult.

3. A person you've met a few times telephones you. How easy is it for you to recognize that voice in the few seconds before the person identifies himself?

   (a) You find it quite easy.

   (b) You recognize the voice at least half the time.

   (c) You recognize the voice less than half the time.

    

4. You're with a group of married friends. Two of them are having an affair. Would you detect this........

   (a) Nearly always.

   (b) Half the time.

   (c) Seldom.

    

5. You're introduced to five strangers at a large social gathering. If their names are mentioned the following day, how easy is it for you to picture their faces?

   (a) You remember most of them.

   (b) You remember a few of them.

   (c) You seldom remember any of them.

    

6. In your early school days, how easy was spelling and the writing of essays?

   (a) Both were quite easy.

   (b) One was easy.

   (c) Neither was easy.

    

7. You spot a parking place, but you must reverse into it and it's going to be a fairly tight squeeze:

   (a) You look for another space.

   (b) You back into it -- carefully.

   (c) You reverse into it without much thought.

    

8. You've spent three days in an unfamiliar village and someone asks you which way is north:

   (a) You're unlikely to know.

   (b) You're not sure, but given a moment you can work it out.

   (c) You point north.

    

9. You're in a dentist's waiting room. How close can you sit to people of the same sex as yourself without feeling uncomfortable? (T's might be best answering in the OLD role)

   (a) Less than six inches.

   (b) Six inches to two feet.

   (c) Over two feet.

    

10. You're visiting your new neighbour, and the two of you are talking. There's a tap dripping in the background. Otherwise the room is quiet:

    (a) You notice the dripping sound immediately and try to ignore it.

    (b) If you notice it, you probably mention it.

    (c) It doesn't bother you at all.

     

Create a form as below and enter scores as follows;

Under Male Score,
give 10 points for each (a), 5 points for each (b), subtract 5 points for each (c)

Under Female Score,
give 15 points for each (a), 5 points for each (b), subtract 5 points for each (c)

Most males will score between 0 and 60
Most females will score between 50 and 100
Scores between 50 and 60 indicate thought compatibility between the sexes.

Male scores between zero and female scores above one hundred point to a brain differently "wired" from that of the opposite sex. Male scores above 60 MAY show a bias to female mental attributes. Females who score below 50 MAY show a brain bias to the male thought processes.