Love, Sex and the Male Brain

Post Reply New Topic

Very interesting article at CNN about the anatomical differences between male and female brains (impacting behavior related to love and sex):

http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/03/23/b ... tml?hpt=C2

A few highlights:

Men and Emotion
"Studies of men's faces show that the male brain's initial emotional reaction can be stronger than the female brain's. But within 2.5 seconds, he changes his face to hide the emotion, or even reverse it. The repeated practice of hiding his emotions gives men the classic poker face."

The "Man Trance"
"If testosterone were beer, a 9-year-old boy would be getting the equivalent of a cup a day. But a 15-year-old would be getting the equivalent of nearly two gallons a day. This fuels their sexual engines and makes it impossible for them to stop thinking about female body parts and sex. All that testosterone drives the "Man Trance"-- that glazed-eye look a man gets when he sees breasts."

Falling in Love
"Despite stereotypes to the contrary, the male brain can fall in love just as hard and fast as the female brain, and maybe more so. When he meets and sets his sights on capturing "the one," mating with her becomes his prime directive. And when he succeeds, his brain makes an indelible imprint of her. Lust and love collide and he's hooked."

"Lonely Hearts" Club
"Not only is the mature male brain more receptive to closer bonds, but it's also more sensitive to loneliness. Nobody thrives when they're lonely, but it seems to take a major toll on older men....unless he makes a point of socializing more with other people, his brain stops getting the social workout it needs to make him feel good about himself. If he becomes a loner, his social-approval circuits don't get activated."

Two gallons of testosterone - that's alot of testosterone slushing around in the brain.

<deleted post> Basically I think the story is bogus.

Feel like posting this in the Links thread, HopeGrows?

Interesting article. Thought I add this one:

http://www.ravenkaldera.org/activism/feminist.html

It's an account of how testosterone feels, written by a female-to-male transsexual. I've read a few other accounts like this and it's interesting when certain male behaviors suddenly "makes sense" to someone -- the point being that if you're male it can be surprising to realize that someone could be surprised.

There's something vaguely odd that we're all humans but that the experience can vary in these biological ways so much.

Oh, that is a very interesting article!

I'm skeptical about much of the analysis made. For example:

@Sound - Yes, I'll post in in your "Love Links" thread - aren't they going to sticky that? It's really only going to serve it's purpose if they sticky it.

@Apple_in_my_Eye - Please also post your link in @Sound's "Love Links" thread, cause my reaction when I read that link was, "OMG." Wow - talk about one of the few people on the planet who could provide that kind of perspective. I agree with @Sound - every woman should read it.

I'd be interested in the inverted account; a subjective documentation of the changes in losing testosterone after growing up soaked in it.