Battle of the Sexes: The Male Brain Vs. The Female Brain

The study of the male brain vs. the female brain is much more than just a battle of the sexes; research, especially in fields such as Evolutionary Psychology, suggest that each gender's brain is genetically engineered in different ways. Psychology Today defines Evolutionary Psychology as the theory "that the mind is shaped by pressure to survive and reproduce. " Their definition goes onto to explain that "we jealously guard romantic partners and cherish our closest relatives above all others, lest we fail to pass on our genes. We easily acquire language, which is critical for cooperation and hence survival. Evolutionary psychology acknowledges these forces but stresses the ultimate (and largely unconscious) gene's eye view of behavior."

According to Evolutionary Psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa's article with Psychology Today, the male brain emphasizes "Systemizing Tendencies" or "Mentalistic Thinking." This is a drive analyze, explore, and construct a system according to Kanazawa. Men strive to decipher the mechanics of the system, or even invent a new one. On the other hand, the female brain is characterized by "Empathizing Techniques;"the drive to identify another person's thoughts or emotions, and respond accordingly. "Mentalistic Thinking" is applied to women, with the desire to understand another person and predict their behavior to connect emotionally. But anyone who has followed modern TV shows, Movies and Book releases is well aware that the genders are expected to react to the same situation differently; often, the stereotypical classification is an "emotional" response in women, and a "logical" response in men.

Lise Eliot, in an article for Scientific American, quoted an interested study by colleagues at the University of Iowa. Research in 2008 found "that one subdivision of the ventral prefrontal cortex-an area involved in social cognition and interpersonal judgment-is proportionally larger in women, compared to men." Since the male brain tends to be 10% larger than the female brain, all studies were scaled accordingly. The original test was on adults; a surprising second test, which compared the SG portion of the brain between male and female children, found that the SG portion was actually larger in boy subjects. The discovery conflicts with the general theory that due to the female role in society (E.I. rearing the young, which requires an empathetic connection), the female brain favors the "Empathizing Techniques" described by Satoshi Kanazawa.

The eternal argument is "Nature vs. Nurture" when discussing the differences between the male brain and female brain. Scientists as of yet have no definitive proof that social structure and society expectations-or genetics factors including "genetic memory"-are the reason for the vast differences in reactions and emotional connections between the genders. The late William D. Hamilton, an Oxford evolutionary biologist said: "People divide roughly, it seems to me, into two kinds, or rather a continuum is stretched between two extremes. There are people-people, and things people." Hamilton, who is regarded as "the best Darwinian since Darwin" according to Kanazawa, seems to propose that the differences between the female brain and the male brain are not the cause for the divide between the "empathizing" people and the "systemizing" people in our society.

The cutting-edge brain mapping technology constantly being tested by Evolutionary Psychologists may one day unlock the answer to the question "how are the male brain and female brain really different?" But for now, we'll just have to settle with the wisdom of popular media such as the novel Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus while waiting for the conclusive answer.

Sources:
Satoshi Kanazawa, "Male brain vs. female brain I: Why do men try to figure out their relationships? Why do women talk to their cars?"
Lise Eliot, "Girl Brain, Boy Brain"
Psychology Today, "Evolutionary Psychology"