He Thinks, She Thinks - How Our Brains Are Different

Feb 11
08:35

2010

Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D.

Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D.

  • Share this article on Facebook
  • Share this article on Twitter
  • Share this article on Linkedin

Anyone with workplace experience knows men and women process information and communicate differently. Dealing with gender differences can prove challenging, especially for managers and leaders.

mediaimage
Regardless of which industry you’re in or the position you fill,He Thinks, She Thinks - How Our Brains Are Different Articles male and female coworkers can experience a shared event and come away with different emotional stories.

We seem to be hardwired this way. Now that neuroscience is becoming more sophisticated, with tools like brain imaging, what are we learning about the gender divide?

Here are the key findings:

1. Emotions are useful. They make the brain pay attention.

2. Men and women process certain emotions differently.

3. These distinctions are a product of complex interactions between nature and nurture.

Picture this: Several managers exit a stressful meeting, where the discussion was lively and occasionally heated.

A female manager jokingly asks her friend if all men are missing a gene for sensitivity. A male colleague overhears her remark and doesn’t understand her reaction.

As he reaches his office, he quietly shares a comment with a buddy about female emotional reactivity and then changes the subject to competitive bottom-line results.

Both are intelligent managers on their way up. But if you listen closely to their accounts of the meeting, you would think they had attended separate events.

Brain Differences

We can look to biology and the brain for explanations. In Brain Rules (Pear Press, 2008), molecular biologist John Medina cites these gender variations:

* Males have only one X chromosome, while females have two. As it happens, the X chromosome is a cognitive “hot spot,” carrying a large percentage of genes involved in brain development. The extra X in females acts as a backup, in case of need. 

* Men’s and women’s brains differ structurally and biochemically.

o Men have a bigger amygdala, a structure that processes emotions. Their brains also more rapidly produce serotonin, a neurotransmitter that regulates mood, learning and memory, among other functions.

o Women have larger connectors in the corpus callosum, which links the brain’s right and left hemispheres.

* Men and women respond differently to acute stress.

o Women activate the left hemisphere’s amygdala and remember emotional details.

o Men use the right amygdala and more easily identify the gist of a situation.
What do these disparities mean in the workplace? How do they manifest in male/female communications?

How the brain processes stress explains some of these discrepancies. As noted earlier, the amygdala governs many emotional responses, as well as our ability to remember them. After experiencing a traumatic event, the female amygdala communicates with the left brain hemisphere. The opposite occurs in men: Their amygdala communicates with the right hemisphere.

As a result, women remember the emotional details of an event, while men recall the ultimate outcome. Furthermore, women tend to use both hemispheres when speaking and processing verbal information, while men primarily use one.

”She’s So Emotional…”

The next time you hear men make the argument that women are more emotional, consider the following: Women have access to more emotional data. Their brains are built that way, allowing them to detect more emotional nuances.

But too much emotional information can interfere with rapid decision-making. Men can more quickly pinpoint the overall situation.

Neither gender is right or wrong, nor better or worse. If we recognize the basic brain distinctions in males and females, we can be more tolerant and forgiving of each other’s “shortcomings.”