MRI analysis between male and female brains showed that males have significantly bigger brains than females do. An average adult human male brain is about10 percent larger or 11 percent to 12 percent heavier than an average female brain. This difference in brain size is due to the fact that males, in general, have larger body size compared to women.
The brain is made up of different cells and tissues that affect the function of different brain regions. An average adult human male brain has about 4 percent more neurons or nerve cells and 100 g more brain tissue than females. Although male brains have more cells, female brains have more developed neutrophil, or the space between cell bodies that allows intercellular communication.
Male brains may be larger than female, but the size of different brain regions may differ between the two genders. The overall inferior parietal lobule, or IPL, and its left side are larger in male brains, while the right side of IPL and corpus callosum, areas in frontal and temporal lobe -- Broca and Wernicke respectively -- and the limbic system are larger in female brains. The orbitofrontal to amygdala ratio, or OAR, is significantly larger in women than in men. The orbitofrontal region involves regulating emotions while the amygdala region is involved in producing emotional reactions.
The size difference of brain regions between males and females seems to affect how the brain functions. Enlargement of the left IPL implies males are more skilled in math and number, while enlargement of the left IPL implies women are more sensitive to details. Women are better in language because of the larger area of Broca and Wernicke in female brains. The large corpus callosum in female brains enable women to transfer data between the two brain hemispheres faster than men. Having a larger, deep limbic brain, make women more expressive than men. OAR results between male and female brains imply that women are more capable in controlling emotional reactions than men. However, as more discoveries are made concerning the brain, previous theories change or add more understanding.