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Laura Tejeda is a columnist with LCCMedia

The Fabulous Women’s Brains | An article by Laura Tejeda

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All human beings have the same brain structures and a number of cells, but women use them and process information differently.

We are still in Women’s Month, the perfect time to deeply analyze how fabulous our brains are. Therefore, let’s take a look at some of the characteristics of the head in women’s body.

 

Complex?

Even if women have smaller brains, they are denser because of the higher number of neurons in the same skull space. In fact, some regions of the cerebral cortex —the outer layer on top of the brain— of women’s brain are more folded, which allow a larger total surface area of brain tissue to be packed into the skull. The surface area of the brain, not its total volume, determines how many neurons and synaptic connections a brain can store.

Talking more about the brain structure, in women, the two hemispheres are generally equally developed and used equally—nevertheless, the corpus callosum, which ensures the transfer and coordination of information between the two hemispheres. In women is 40% more innervated in women. Also, each neuron in the female brain has from 11 to 13% more dendrites, facilitating the transmission of information from one neuron to another. That is why women tend to remember a higher amount of information, especially in situations with an emotional link.

Furthermore, women use more brain structures oriented toward communication and relationships. In fact, hearing and language centers have 11% more neurons in women. Women also have a tendency to evaluate the behaviour of others more and to ask themselves questions, thanks to a greater number of mirror neurons, which allow them to easily decipher the emotions and moods of their interlocutors according to facial expressions and tone of voice. This is the basis of empathy.

 

Mature earlier?

According to a study conducted by French researchers (CNRS) from the University of Bordeaux and Spanish researchers from the Polytechnic University of Valence, from March 2015 to November 2017 on 1500 subjects, women’s brains mature before men’s. For instance, the female prefrontal cortex, which controls emotions, is more developed in females and reaches full maturity two years earlier in girls, during adolescence.

 

Prone to diseases?

 

Brain chemistry and hormonal fluctuations make women’s brains different. It is believed that women tend to develop more diseases such as anxiety and dementia (e.g., Alzheimer’s) due in part to this, but that is not the only possible reason.

 

First of all, women’s brains never stop, never! Also, we have more metacognitive beliefs —likely linked to education— about the uncontrollability of worry. In other words, we tend to worry about worrying, because we think it is something to be avoided, which enhances any anxiety. 

 

Secondly, according to André Nieoullon, professor of neurosciences at the University of Aix- Marseilles, dementia progresses may be linked to the drop in the estrogen levels in women, which have an effect that would be ‘protective’ on the body and particularly on the brain. That said, when women arrived to menopause, their brains would be more vulnerable to neurodegenerative diseases.

 

Why all this is important?

 

Knowing and accepting the unique biological function of our brains allows us to a better self-comprehension and self-awareness, at the same time we can boost our social relations, and emotional intelligence and take action on our health.

 

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