Are male and female brains really different, and if so why?

Question

....and is it true that the brains of homosexual men are more like womens or is that just an excuse society has come up with? How can we ever know the truth anyway? Is it a cover up?

Answer 1

I don't know about the science to this question, but my own experience has shown me that we are very different. And I don't think that is just because of the way we were raised. I did not have all of the girly stuff when I was young but I still came out a girl.

Answer 2

[This is from memory, so it's all very general. But this information is pretty common around the net.]

Yes, the male and female brain have some physical differences. For example, the man's brain is proportionally larger overall; and different areas of the brain are larger in one gender than in another.

There's also more physical connection between the two hemispheres in the female brain -- the two halves of a female brain "talk" to each other more easily than in a typical male brain. This is clearly evident when brain injury (a stroke, for example) occurs; a woman who takes damage in the same brain location as a man will not lose as much function as a man will, since other areas of her brain will compensate for the loss whereas the man had no "backup area."

The differences initially result from the in-utero wash of hormones triggered in men by their Y chromosome. Male and female hormones shape the brain so that each gender is prepped for their basic biological role.

The impact of the hormones is seen at a very early age, in more than just the biology. Behavior-wise, males are startled more easily right after birth; females seem to "mouth" more, as if trying to communicate.

Even children who have not been "gender-socialized" behave along general gender stereotypes. At a very early age, boys will gravitate towards toys that are "objects," such as the cars, trucks, tools, whatever; and if they are given dolls, they will not play with them as if the dolls were "people," they will use them in the same manner as a car or truck or ball. Girls tend to personalize their toys and gravitate towards the dolls and other things with identity, "relating to" the toy rather than using it to do something else.

There will be kids in whom the gender differentiating is more pronounced, but this is the typical natural pattern, due to brain and hormonal differences.

Answer 3

To a certain degree, due to hormonal differences.