The differences on how the male and female brain works is still one of the most controversial subjects known to humankind. It’s been reported that most men favor the left side of their brain because it controls logic, facts, and aggression. On the other hand, most women use the right side of their brain primarily, which centers on emotion, creativity and nurturing. But the reason men and women are so different is because the male and female brain processes information in dissimilar ways. “Consequently, men and woman have diverse behaviors, awareness and concerns emotionally and physically, especially when it comes to love and sex. Women See Relationships, Men See Body Parts”, writes Anne Moir and David Jessel, in their book Brain Sex: The Real Difference Between Men and Women.

Women can actually use both sides of their brain at the same time because of thousands of additional nerve connectors that are there. Men have to shift from one side of the brain to the other. They’re working out of the analytical, the left side, and if they have to move into the emotional area, they drop that and move toward the right side. Men tend to be single minded. They get involved in one thing. And women have more of a capacity of multitasking.

Here are 10 differences between the male and female brain:

1. The male brain places achievement at the top of its priority list, the female on relationships.
2. Men focus on narrow issues and are able to separate unrelated information. Women see the “big-picture” from a wider vantage point.
3. Men can detach their emotions, relationships and information into separate compartments in their brains, while women are inclined to link it all together.
4. Men can focus on specific tasks for long periods of time such as sports, finances or sex without distraction. Women’s brains are better equipped to divide their concentration on many different tasks such as motherhood, work, household chores, love and sex.
5. Men focus on individual issues with parts of their brain, while women focus on multiple issues with their whole brain (left and right hemispheres).
6. Men have 20 times more testosterone (male sex hormone) than women making them more independent and dominant.
7. In men, their primary sense is visual, which is why so many men enjoy porn, whereas women are more in touch with all of their other senses; smell, sound, touch and taste.
8. Men’s fantasies include images of sexual body parts and they focus on orgasm. Women’s fantasies comprise of the whole person or couple engaged in kissing, foreplay and lovemaking. Women also tap into their emotional feelings during fantasy.
9. Men like to hear graphic sexual words in bed and some women enjoy the same, but many are more aroused by romantic words.
10. Modern man still has the innate programming from his caveman era to hunt and spread his seed while women are generally more monogamous.

When both sexes understand where the other is coming from, the conflicts can be reduced. If a woman truly expects to have a meaningful communication with her man, she must activate the right side of his brain. And if a man wants to communicate with his woman, he must enter her world of emotion. Men can learn to be nurturing  and women can learn to be more aggressive . In order to achieve more gender equality, we each have to cultivate the “other side” of our selves.

If men and women want to have a consistently successful relationship and live together in harmony, then they must learn to acknowledge, understand and celebrate their differences, not try to convert their partner to their way of thinking.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the differences between the male and female brain and how we can use the knowledge that we have to empower us all.