Women's brains more active than men's

Hyderabad: “Women’s brains are more active than men’s,” says a recent report. 

The report states that out of the 46,000 scans taken, emotional responses in women were much stronger than in men. It was found that increased activity in the area of the brain called the ‘pre-frontal cortex’, associated with emotional responses like concern, empathy and intuition made women more prone to anxiety and emotional disorders.

A similar study was published in 2011 on stress reactions in males and females in India, where it was found that while women were emotionally more active, men showed greater activity in the visual and co-ordination areas of their brains, which increased the likelihood of them suffering from concentration disorders like ‘Attention Deficiency Syndrome’.

Dr Deepika Sirineni, consultant neurologist at Apollo Hospitals, explained, “Studies have shown that women have greater brain activity, but presently this has been decoded only in one area. Women also undergo different hormonal changes which makes them more prone to different sensors in the brain. 

“Reproductive hormones play a role in determining the different stress reactions in males and females. This must be researched further to understand brain activity better.”

In terms of overall intelligence and performance in males and females, there has not been convincing evidence and experts state that this requires more research in order to understand the different signals of the brain more deeply. 

Senior neurologists in the city say that all these findings are only at the research stage, with none of them implemented at the clinical level yet. Mental health disorders are deduced through interpretations and psychiatrists do not look at brain scans to diagnose these disorders. On the whole, these findings in terms of clinical practice have not helped much, state experts.