Neuroscientists explore differences in male, female brains

Men are from Mars and women are from Venus, a bestselling book claims.Science does confirm, though, that male and female brains are wired differently butwhat that means is the focus of a great deal of research.

One recent study found that structurally, it's rare to have a brain with all "male" or "female" traits.

• Brains of men and women aren't distinctly different, MRI study shows

However, that doesn't mean that there aren't differences in our brains, other researchers say.

"One could go on and list hundreds of anatomical and chemical differences between the brains of men and women, and this would be true in other animals as well," said McMaster Universitybrain researcherProf.Sandra Witelson.

Her McMaster lab contains acollection of over 100brains includingAlbert Einstein's.

The differences between men's and women's brains especially in the language and speech regionsinterest her greatly. Herstudies revolve around brain lateralizationanatomical and functional differences between people's right and left cerebral hemispheres just above the ears, and their degree of connection.

"It appears that there is a more generalized interconnectivity in the female brain than in the male brain," she said."A male brain is more specialized,has more independent modules. I think it's more vulnerable. And I think it has the potential for less plasticity."

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Dr. Apostolos Georgopoulosisthe director of the Brain Science Centre at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, alarge veterans' hospital in Minnesota, where heand his colleagues are measuring the brain waves and cognitive skills of hundreds of healthy women ranging in age from 30 to over 100. Other studies are being carried out on men.

"Women's brains are definitely different from men's brains," said Apostolos. "What we have found is that women, in many different tasks, process information about five times faster than men, and use much less of their brain to do identical cognitive performance."

But apparently, female brain speed and efficiency come at a cost.

"Women seem to use certain parts of their brain much more efficiently, but if these are hit they're in big trouble," Apostolos said, suggesting thatmen's brains may be better able to compensate for damage.

But Witelson points out that men's brains are vulnerable too. She says atthe tender age of five weeks, male embryos get doused in testosterone, changing them and their brains forever.

"The male brain has undergone a sexual differentiation," she said."And if something should go wrong, it could affect the male brain more than the female brain."

• Women's brains more resilient to higher levels of genetic defects: study

Science is just beginning to plumb the diversity of networks in people's brainseach as unique as its owner's DNA.

How the hundred billion neurons in an adult brain get hard-wireddifferently so in men and womenhow neural circuits determine sexual or gender identity, recover from damage or age healthily all remain tantalizing mysteries for now.