The Male Brain vs. The Female Brain

Some interesting differences between men's and women's brains, collected from sources listed below. Read with a grain of salt, and further investigate the ones that get you riled up.

1. Men's brains are larger, but as they age, they also shrink faster than women's brains.

2.  Women's brains operate at a higher temperature, due to burning more glucose.

3. Women use more of their brains when they think.

4. Men's brains contain roughly 6.5 times the amount of grey matter related to general intelligence as women's brains, while women's brains contain about 10 times as much white matter related to general intelligence as men's. Researchers point to this finding to explain the controversial belief that in general, men may naturally excel at math while women tend to excel in areas like language.

5. Men tend to score an average of 4 to 5 points higher on intelligence tests, as reported by the journal Intelligence in Sept. 2006.

6. The average man will think about sex as often as once a minute, while the average woman will think of sex much less often, as infrequently as once every one or two days.

7. Why do women always want to talk? Researchers have found that connecting with another through talking will trigger the pleasure centers in a woman's brain, a high second only to an orgasm.

8. Baby girls have been observed to typically have stronger reactions than boys to disturbing or distressful sounds.

9.  A 20-second hug will trigger the release of oxytocin in a woman's brain. The effect of this chemical will often give the woman a feeling of trust in the person hugging her.

10. Many authors and researchers have said that men use fewer words per day than women. Depending on which study you believe (if any), the "word gap" can be anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 words a day.