People often say offhand that men and women think differently.  There is now scientific reasoning to believe that they really do think differently.  There are two halves of the brain, the left side and the right side.  Each half of the brain holds a different purpose, or is the power house to different functions.  Left Brain Thinkers tend to be more logical, analytical, and objective; where Right Brain Thinkers are generally more intuitive, thoughtful, and subjective.

    The concept of each half of the brain holding different functions was started because of Roger W. Sperry.  He studied the different effects of epilepsy.  In his study, he discovered that the two different sides of the brain held different functions; specifically, that the left side held the function of language.  This was the start of further research into the functions of the different halves of our brains.  Now we know that the left side of the brain holds the functions for language, logic, critical thinking, numbers, and reasoning.  We also know that the right side of the brain holds the functions for recognizing faces, expressing emotions, music, reading emotions, colors, images, intuition, and creativity.

    On average, women have a larger deep limbic system.  As a result, woman can process information quicker; therefore they tend to use both left and right side brain functions.  Men tend to only use their left side of the brain.  Interesting enough, if both a man and a woman had a left side stroke, the woman would be more likely to recover her language habits, from the previous use of both sides of the brain. The man would have a less likely probability to recover his language habits, due to only using the left side of his brain.

    You can use your knowledge of the left side/right side brain functions to better understand your strengths and weaknesses.  For example, if you have a hard time remembering information that you are listening to, try writing it down.  So, it wasn’t just a saying after all…men and women, scientifically, do think differently.