I just finished reading The Female Brain (Dr. Louann Brizendine MD) and learned some fascinating facts about the neurochemical make-up of women and how it impacts our behavior. Here are some interesting nuggets I came away with:
1. The neurochemical make-up of men dictates whether or not they will be faithful. There is a gene that codes for a particular kind of vasopressin receptor in the brain, which comes in seventeen different lengths. Males with longest gene variation are the most reliable and trustworthy partners. Therefore, this is the only size that matters when seeking a long-term mate.
2. The female brain is nature’s default setting. From conception until eight weeks, the fetal brain has the circuitry pathways of the female brain. After eight weeks, a huge testosterone surge makes this unisex brain male by killing off some of the cells in the communication centers and growing the areas dedicated to sex and aggression.
3. Women are not prone to fidelity any more than men are. Women are subconsciously looking for the men with the best genes to father their children. Symmetrical features are a signal of good genes, and therefore women are drawn to men with more symmetrical structures. When a woman is single, she is looking for men that can help her raise and protect her family. Once the home is established, the biological need to sneak around with men who have the best genes still persists.
4. Mommies fall “in love” with their babies. Research has shown that tender nurturing and breast-feeding that a mother experiences with her child releases bursts of dopamine, the reward and pleasure chemical, just as it does in romantic love.
5. No cold feet. In order for a woman to have an orgasm during sex, her amygdala, the center for fear and anxiety must be turned off. Women need to be comfortable and have their feet warm before they feel like having sex.
6. The switch from the giddy intensity of romance to the calmer, less passionate long-term relationship state is nature’s way of decreasing a couple’s focus on each other so that they can care for a new child.
7. The female brain is much more adept at reading subtle facial and verbal emotional expressions. Men, on the other hand, cannot read emotions—it’s only when they see actual tears that they realize that something is wrong. This is why women have evolved to cry four times more than men do, to signal distress that men cannot ignore.
8. Love hurts—literally. Romantic rejection triggers the same circuits in the brain, as does physical pain.
9. Menopause has the result of the “mommy brain” getting unwired. At about the age of forty-three, the female brain changes to become less sensitive to estrogen and oxytocin, the “tending” neurochemicals, and women are less inclined to nurture, connect, or establish connections like they did in their prior years. This kind of change usually baffles everyone around them.
10. Women are only half as likely to be gay as men. An estimated 5-10 percent of the female population is estimated to have same-sex attraction, but the female brain is only half as likely to be wired for same sex attraction as the male brain.
This article is reprinted from WomenCo.
