What’s the matter?
As many have asserted over the years, men DO have more gray matter. But wait, before you start dismantling your Gloria Steinem shrine, it turns out that women have more “white matter”. SO says a new scientific study from UCIrvine/Univ. New Mexico. Is this the start of a new gender war over brainpower? Likely not, as this new study suggests the distinct differences between brains of the sexes ultimately result in similar levels of general intelligence.
What they are saying is this: the extra gray matter makes men better at activities that require “local processing” like mathematics and, I would infer, sense of direction. White matter is the connections between brain areas, and this connectiveness makes women better at meta-skills like language and, perhaps, asking for directions.
Intelligence in men and women is a gray and white matter
Men and women use different brain areas to achieve similar IQ results, UCI study finds