The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine M.D. Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Female Brain
Book Review: A must read for both women and men!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a literary romp through the whys and wherefores of the female brain and the evolved behaviors that are wired into that brain. Dr. Brizendine skillfully takes the reader through the life stages of a woman, devoting each chapter to a different stage (e.g. "Teen Girl Brain", "Mommy Brain"). She uses real life examples from her clinical patients and weaves her stories with compassion, intelligence, and humor. Every man and woman who reads this wonderful book will want to quote her statistics and smile at memorable life stages in their own lives. It is a great gift for girl friends and boy friends!Book Review: A rare gem.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a marvelous book that should be in every girl's personal library. I took a copy to our local school (K-12), and it was read and accepted with delight. In fact, it was suggested that I donate it to the town library for better exposure, but I have a copy for them, too. Read it. Amazing!Book Review: All this time I thought . . .
Summary: 5 Stars
All my life I've received the messages about gender differences. Men are this way - women are that way - women SHOULD be this or that way, because men are this or that way. But this book rings true. This is what it's like to live in a real woman's head.Book Review: Amazing
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is full of amazing information about what is going on in the female brain. I was blown away. It was also quite reassuring to understand my own behavior as part of being female. We are all unique, and also influenced by the complex workings of our brains. I highly recomend this book to all women, and all men who have women in their lives!Book Review: As interesting a read for women or men.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an excellent book with many insights about both the female and male brain. The writing makes for easy reading that is equally enjoyable for either women or men. The author approaches this subject at the hormonal and brain function level. She shares how a few hormones (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, oxytocin), neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin) and their regulators within the brain (prefrontal cortex, hypothalamus, amygdale) dictate our social behavior. Hormonal levels and their regulators are radically different between men and women. Thus, the genders behave differently. These hormones have a life cycle of their own defining specific passages in a women's life including, puberty, and the various menopause stages (peri-, -, and post-).
The female brain is different on several counts. It has larger resources dedicated to communication, language, emotions, and memory related to such emotions. This is manifested by a larger hippocampus and 11% more neurons dedicated to language capabilities. On the other hand, women's brain resources dedicated to sex is barely more than a third as large as men's. Testosterone level is a key differentiator between male and female as it is so much lower in women. As a result, women are more cooperative, less competitive, less aggressive, more concerned with emotion of others, and more focused on the group than the self alone. Men are 20 times more aggressive. The population of the prison system reflects that. Men think about sex far more often and their sex drive is far higher. That's why men rape women and not the reverse.
The chapter on the teen girl brain is excellent. It explains a great deal about the emotional roller coaster associated with a surge in hormonal levels. The differentiation between the female and male brain at that age is in full swing. Girls speak faster and two to three times as much as boys. Girls need social connection and ongoing communication opportunities. When those are lacking, a girl after puberty is twice as vulnerable as a boy to depression. On the other hand, because of lesser developed communication skills boys are a lot more at risk for autism.
The chapter on motherhood is also fascinating. It describes how a woman's brain is altered forever after motherhood to enhance the survival of her children. The author analyses the related metamorphosis of the women's brain in technical detail at the hormonal level. In plain English, whatever nature wants you to do (reproduce and mother) it does by generating plenty of natural feel good drugs (dopamine and oxytocin).
The author addresses at length love and sex. Her findings based on neuroscience confirm some the clichés we have that women look for economic stability and loyalty in men. While men look for, well the obvious: Scarlett Johansson. Women's focus is nesting. Men's is fertility. However, Brizendine indicates things get more complex. Women do want long-term relationship with loyal and caring providers. However, they occasionally don't mind reproducing with a philanderer that appears to have superior genes. Brizendine states that 10% of children are fathered by such philanderers without the husband knowledge. Superior genes are characteristics of males who have greater symmetry in their body and face. In plain English, this means men who are more handsome. Apparently, this has been confirmed by countless studies. Yet, this statement is perplexing. Is Brad Pitt really more symmetric than Danni de Vito? From a geometric standpoint, this could be a close call. So, what does symmetry really has to do with handsomeness? Also, interestingly enough the loyalty of a male seems incredibly predetermined by the length of a certain gene (vasopressin) the longer the more loyal.
The chapter on menopause and the mature women is also interesting. The changing hormonal balance, including the drop off in estrogen, triggers a marked reduction in nurturing behavior. Nurturing children and husband becomes really tasking. The frustration with this situation engenders a need for self-actualization. This is especially pronounced if the kids are out to college and the husband is retired and expects three meals a day. The terms of the marriage need to be renegotiated if the marriage is to survive. Counter to the public's perception it is women who initiate divorce 65% of the time among couples over 50.
Early in the book Brizendine addresses Lawrence Summers remark that women are underrepresented in mathematics and scientific fields because when comparing men vs women, even though their average ability may be the same, women's variability (or standard deviation) was lower. Thus, few women reached the top echelons of those fields. Brizendine rebuts Summers by indicating that girls and boys' ability and variability are the same through their teen years. Brizendine states that fewer women reach the top echelon in the mentioned fields because their brain wiring makes them more social and they do not seek lonesome (scientific) pursuits. However, a review of the 2006 College Board SAT results contradicts Brizendine as it shows that boys have both a higher average and higher standard deviation on math score vs girls. As a result, twice as many boys than girls score greater than 750 on the SAT math section. Thus, in this one case Brizendine's arguments are not convincing. This does not detract from the overall excellent intellectual quality of this book.