After the success of her first book, she continued to write a second. This time it was on the male brain. It sounded awfully interesting so I picked up a copy and delved in.
One of the many interesting things I have learned is that men have a hard time listening to or understanding women. This may not seem like new news, but men actually perceive voices and changes in sound differently than women do. In Dr. Brizendine's book, The Male Brain, {cleverly titled, I know.} she argues that the changing hormones in a male's body increases the hearing differences between a girl's brain and a boy's brain. The main difference is that simple sounds, like white noise from a TV, intensely active a female's brain while white noise deactivates a male brain.
It is as if they didn't even hear it.
Scientists found that testosterone affects the auditory system within the brain, causing unwanted "noise" or repetitious acoustic stimuli to be inhibited.
This means that men actually tune repetition out. So when we tell them for the millionth time to pick up after themselves, it is as if we never said it at all.
Likewise, when a group of girls get together and talk at high-pitch and fast pace about everything and anything on this earth, the male brain picks up the noise as if it were similar buzzing or humming sound.
So for boys, following a girls' rapid string of banter is almost impossible. They don't hear coherent sentences, just noise. The best they can do is to pretend and nod like they are listening.
While I understand that biological make-up & hormones play a large role in our behavior and perception of the world, I am not sure I want to simply wave my hand and say, "Oh, it's just the way you are. You can't help it if your hormones are like that", every time a male did or did not actually pay attention.
In the rest of the chapter, she discusses a recent study done at the University of Texas concerning the differences in written communication between genders. Not surprisingly, men were found to use fewer words to discuss topics about people or personal issues. The higher the level of testosterone, the fewer words they use.
Dr. Brizendine even goes as far as to state that monogamy is hormone-related. During sexual activity, hormones, like dopamine and vasopressin, are released. Depending on the type of vasopressin receptors in a male's braine, it will affect his desire to be monogamous.
If the vasopressin receptors are blocked and do not uptake the hormones, the male does not connect or bond to their partner at all. The differing types of receptors are mainly dependent on the length. A monogamous male tends to have a longer version, while the promiscuous male has a shorter version.
Studies have shown that men with longer receptors are more likely to leave bachelorhood earlier and commit to one women for life. So I guess the joke, "longer is better", really is true among female.
At least when it comes to vasopressin receptors....
The book is fascinating, and I am practically finished with it. She goes on to discuss the father brain and so forth. I am curious as to how she dissects the female brain or how accurate I fit those generalizations in The Female Brain.
Like I said, it was fascinating and SUCH an eye-opener, but I wouldn't use this book as a how-to on men. Because, in the end, humans are complex. Statistics lie and studies can be flawed. Pick up the book and judge it for yourself :)
