Originally published November 8 2005
Women have greater mental flexibility because of hormones, research says
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Researchers from Bradford University have linked the hormone oestrogen to women's increase attention span and superiority in learning rules.
Tests showed attention span and ability to learn rules were far better among women than men.
The Bradford University scientists told a hormone conference in London how tasks requiring mental flexibility favour women over men.
A woman's oestrogen levels may prime the part of the brain involved in such skills - the frontal lobe - they said.
They asked 43 men and women aged 18-35 to perform a battery of neuropsychological tests that assessed skills such as spatial recognition memory, rule learning, attention, planning and motor control.
The women were far better at being able to shift their attention from one stimulus to another, making it easier for them to perform everyday actions like driving and reading.
This might explain why girls find it easier than boys to concentrate at school and why women are more careful drivers, the researchers hypothesise.
Speaking at the Society for Endocrinology meeting, they said: "This study demonstrates that tasks requiring mental flexibility favour women over men, an area previously not considered to elicit strong sex differences.
Dr Peter Marsh, author of Driving Passion: The Psychology of the Car, believes men and women have inherent differences which manifest themselves behind the wheel.
He says men like risk-taking, the thrill of the chase and sensation-seeking, while women are more cautious.
Women's accidents tend to be at roundabouts and T-junctions but at slower speeds than men, who are involved in more serious crashes because they can't brake quickly enough.
Dr Nick Neave, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of Northumbria who has researched spatial awareness and gender differences, said: "The thing about driving is that it is not a single skill.
"There is a female advantage on certain frontal cortex tasks.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml