London: Men are from Mars and women are from Venus? Not quite! The notion that male and female brains are wired differently is a myth promoted by gender stereotyping, a neuroscientist has claimed.
According to Gina Rippon, a professor at Ashton University in Birmingham, male and female brains only differ because of the relentless "drip, drip, drip" of gender stereotyping. Rippon said the idea that women are not able to read maps, or the notion that men are bad at multitasking have no basis in science. She said gender differences emerge only through environmental factors and are not innate, 'The Telegraph' reported.
Recent studies have suggested that female brains are more suited to social skills, memory and multi-tasking, while men are better at perception and co-ordinated movement.
"The bottom line is that saying there are differences in male and female brains is just not true. There is pretty compelling evidence that any differences are tiny and are the result of environment not biology," Rippon said while speaking on International Women's Day.
"You can't pick up a brain and say 'that's a girls brain, or that's a boys brain' in the same way you can with the skeleton. They look the same," said Rippon.
Rippon pointed to previous research that found the brains of London black cab drivers physically changed after they had acquired The Knowledge – an encyclopedic recall of the capital's streets.
She believes differences in male and female brains are because of similar cultural stimuli, the report said. Therefore, a women's brain may become 'wired' for multi-tasking since society expects that of her and so she uses that part of her brain more often. The brain adapts in the same way as a muscle gets larger with extra use, she said.
