Unleashing The Power Of The Female Brain
Content updated from previous publish date.
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.
One of the largest functional brain-imaging studies ever done helps us understand 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
KEY DIFFERENCES IN THE FEMALE BRAIN VS. MALE 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, career, 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:- Anxiety
- Depression
- Pain syndromes
- Trouble sleeping
- Obsessive worry
- Carbohydrate cravings




