Why? Many Questions Answered

While all human brains consist of the same material—
about 40 percent gray matter and 60 percent white mat-
ter—the brain of a man is significantly different from that
of a woman From studies conducted using intelligence
tests, it has been determined that men use nearly seven
times more gray matter than women do, whereas women
use nine times more white matter than men do The main
functions of gray matter seem to lie in the disciplines of 

spatial awareness, including map-reading, mathematics
and problem-solving, whereas white matter connects the
processing centers of the brain and is important in the use
of language, emotional thinking and the ability to do more
than one thing at once

Because women use more white brain matter, they tend
to be better communicators In fact, the female brain has
a greater number of areas associated with communication
than the male brain does, which explains why women tend
to use language as an emotional rapport-building device
whereas men use language to exchange information and
solve problems On average, a woman says 7,000 words per
day while a man says only 2,000

The two hemispheres of the female brain are also linked
more effectively than those of the male brain, and they’re
more closely connected, which explains how women are
better able to multitask than men, who generally have to
concentrate on one job at a time This greater connectivity
in the female brain is also thought to be the reason for so-
called women’s intuition

These differences are thought to have been brought
about by the social roles adopted by men and women in
our ancestors’ time Men, for instance, would go out hunting,
often tracking their prey for many days, which required
problem-solving and navigation, whereas women needed
to be more emotionally and linguistically attuned to protect
their home and offspring In fact, studies show that women
with higher than average levels of the male hormone testosterone
tend to be able to read maps more effectively than
other women.