Men, women differ in brain use
Men and women use their brains much differently, according to new research from Canada.
The study showed that if a man and a woman are given the same task, each may use their brain differently to do it. Researchers at the University of Alberta studied 23 healthy men and 10 healthy women. In one test, participants tapped their index fingers as quickly as possible in a short space of time. In another, they were shown a few numbers that they had to recognise quickly among other numbers. A third test focused on verbal skills. Participants were shown a single letter. Then, they had to think of as many words as possible that started with that letter, working to a deadline. The fourth test checked spatial attention, using simple graphics on a computer screen. The researchers found that sometimes males and females would perform the same tasks and show different brain activation, and sometimes they would perform different tasks and show the same brain activation. Men performed better on the spatial attention test, but their brain activity patterns did not differ from women in that test. The researchers said that it has been widely recognised that there are differences between males and females but finding that different regions of the brain are activated in men and women in response to the same task has large potential implications for a variety of different clinical situations. They noted that men and women differ in some psychiatric conditions; depression is twice as common among women and there are differences in symptoms in some mental illnesses.

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