The Female Brain

　　Every brain begins as a female brain. It only becomes male eight weeks after conception, when excess testosterone shrinks the communications center, reduces the hearing cortex, and makes the part of the brain that processes sex twice as large.

　　Louann Brizendine, M.D. is a pioneering neuropsychiatrist who brings together the latest findings to show how the unique structure of the female brain determines how women think, what they value, how they communicate, and whom they’ll love. Brizendine reveals the neurological explanations behind why

‧ A woman uses about 20,000 words per day while a man uses about 7,000

‧ A woman remembers fights that a man insists never happened

‧ A teen girl is so obsessed with her looks and talking on the phone

‧ Thoughts about sex enter a woman’s brain once every couple of days but enter a man’s brain about once every minute

‧ A woman knows what people are feeling, while a man can’t spot an emotion unless somebody cries or threatens bodily harm

‧ A woman over 50 is more likely to initiate divorce than a man

　　Women will come away from this book knowing that they have a lean, mean communicating machine. Men will develop a serious case of brain envy.

“Finally, a satisfying answer to Freud’s question, ‘What does a woman want?’ Louann Brizendine has done a great favor for every man who wants to understand the puzzling women in his life. A breezy and enlightening guide to women—and a must-read for men.”
—Daniel Goleman, author of Social Intelligence

“Sassy, witty, reassuring, and great fun. All women—and the men who love them—should read this book.”
—Christiane Northrup, M.D., author of The Wisdom of Menopause

“An eye-opening account of the biological foundations of human behavior. Destined to become a classic in the field of gender studies.”
—Marilyn Yalom, author of A History of the Breast

“A timely, insightful, readable, and altogether magnificent book.”
—Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, author of Mother Nature: A History of Mothers, Infants and Natural Selection

作者簡介

　　Louann Brizendine, M.D., a neuropsychiatrist at the University of California, San Francisco, is the founder of the Women’s and Teen Girls’ Mood and Hormone Clinic. She was previously on faculty at the Harvard Medical School and is a graduate of the Yale University School of Medicine and the University of California, Berkeley, in neurobiology. She has written in professional texts and journals, and she lectures widely to the public and in the media on the female brain. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her husband and son.

The Birth of the Female Brain



Leila was a busy little bee, flitting around the playground, connecting with the other children whether or not she knew them. On the verge of speaking in two- and three-word phrases, she mostly used her contagious smile and emphatic nods of her head to communicate, and communicate she did. So did the other little girls. ＂Dolly,＂ said one. ＂Shopping,＂ said another. There was a pint-size community forming, abuzz with chatter, games, and imaginary families.



Leila was always happy to see her cousin Joseph when he joined her on the playground, but her joy never lasted long. Joseph grabbed the blocks she and her friends were using to make a house. He wanted to build a rocket, and build it by himself. His pals would wreck anything that Leila and her friends had created. The boys pushed the girls around, refused to take turns, and would ignore a girls request to stop or give the toy back. By the end of the morning, Leila had retreated to the other end of the play area with the girls. They wanted to play house quietly together.



Common sense tells us that boys and girls behave differently. We see it every day at home, on the playground, and in classrooms. But what the culture hasnt told us is that the brain dictates these divergent behaviors. The impulses of children are so innate that they kick in even if we adults try to nudge them in another direction. One of my patients gave her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter many unisex toys, including a bright red fire truck instead of a doll. She walked into her daughters room one afternoon to find her cuddling the truck in a baby blanket, rocking it back and forth saying, ＂Dont worry, little truckie, everything will be all right.＂



This isnt socialization. This little girl didnt cuddle her ＂truckie＂ because her environment molded her unisex brain. There is no unisex brain. She was born with a female brain, which came complete with its own impulses. Girls arrive already wired as girls, and boys arrive already wired as boys. Their brains are different by the time theyre born, and their brains are what drive their impulses, values, and their very reality.