Men with women's brains

Last updated at 14:47 06 April 2004


When people joke that a sensitive man is in touch with his female side, they may be more perceptive than they think.

Scientists have long known that there are fundamental differences between male and female brains which influence a person's skills and behaviour.

But a team from Cambridge University has proved that almost one in five men have "female" brains - and that more than one in 10 women have "male" brains.

That may explain why the undeniably masculine David Beckham has several key "female" traits such as a keen fashion sense and a willingness to make public declarations of love for his wife and children.

And it may account for Carol Vorderman's analytical skills and mathematical aptitude - two characteristics usually attributed to men.

The research made a series of breakthroughs in understanding the human brain:

It established the personality traits which indicate someone has a male or a female brain by studying scans of adults carrying out creative and analytical tasks. During creative tasks, the majority of female brains were more active, but analytical tasks favoured male brains.

However, it also found that 17 per cent of men's brains followed female patterns, while 14 per cent of females followed male patterns. And about a third had "asexual" brains - which displayed typical characteristics of both genders.

It demonstrated that the sex of our brain is decided in the womb. By testing amniotic fluid in the wombs of 100 expectant mothers, then studying children on their first birthday, it found that those who had higher levels of testosterone in their fluid had male brains, while those with less had female brains.

Because the type of brain a person has dictates their personality, the research suggests our characters are determined before birth, rather than by the environment in which we are raised.

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen of Cambridge University, who led the research, said: "Our discoveries could have a lot of practical uses, for instance in school.

"We think male and female brains could benefit from different teaching styles."

The professor will reveal his findings this evening as part of the Cambridge Science Festival, and has also written a book, The Essential Difference, on the research.

Most watched News videos