The Ramblings of my Disorganised Mind

I never thought I would say this

but I wish it would stop raining!

Just for 2 hours (given the wind up here at the moment): that should be enough to get the washing dry. *grin*

The good news is, after almost a week of being out in the rainwater, the whites are truly white. :-)

Today, more published differences between women's and men's brains and how they process (although the headline bothers me because I can, in fact, read maps and was an orienteering buff as a teenager and did quite a bit of camping in my last year of high school... yes, I know you wouldn't know it to look at me now, but I wasn't always this unfit *grin*). Anyway, given the fact that the online link will expire, I've reproduced it here. From: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12033956-13762,00.html (bold emphasis mine)

Finally - why women can't read maps
From correspondents in New Mexico
January 24, 2005

MEN frequently despair at women's map-reading skills - or rather their lack of them. Now scientists believe they have pinpointed the reason for this conflict between the sexes.

Researchers say it is all down to differences in the reliance of the sexes on either grey matter or white matter in their brains to solve problems.
They found that in intelligence tests men use 6.5 times as much grey matter as women, but women use nine times as much white matter.

Grey matter is brain tissue crucial to processing information and plays a vital role in aiding skills such as mathematics, map-reading and intellectual thought.

White matter connects the brain's processing centres and is central to emotional thinking, use of language and the ability to do more than one thing at once.

Professor Rex Jung, a co-author of the study at the University of New Mexico, said: "This may help explain why men tend to excel in tasks requiring more local processing, like mathematics and map-reading, while women tend to excel at integrating information from various brain regions, such as is required for language skills.

"These two very different pathways and activity centres, however, result in equivalent overall performance on broad measures of cognitive ability, such as those found on intelligence tests."

Previous studies have shown that women have weaker spatial awareness than men, making it harder for them to read maps. [or, in my case, parallel park. :-D ]

Research has also found that in childhood, girls' vocabulary develops more quickly and that in later life women can speak 20,000 to 25,000 words a day compared to a man's 7000 to 10,000.

For the study, published in the online edition of the journal NeuroImage, researchers performed a series of brain scans on 26 female and 22 male volunteers using magnetic resonance imaging equipment.

All the volunteers were in good health, had no history of brain injury and the average IQ scores of the two sexes were similar.

Their brains were scanned while they carried out tests designed to assess their general intelligence.

Researchers then created a map of a brain showing the varying levels of activity in the brains of men and women. About 40 per cent of the human brain is grey matter and 60 per cent white matter.

Umm, if 40% of the brain is grey matter and 60% white, and men use 6.5 times more grey matter than women and women use 9 times more white matter than men during tests, then does that mean that (in general) women use more of their brains then men? Would someone who is better at maths than me work that one out??? I might be able to have 50 trains of thought at one time but I have trouble adding 8 and 7 without using my fingers. Although no trouble doing the 7 times tables. Go figure.

One thing I would really like to know: do men who are good at language, communication and psychic activity or women who are good at logics and mathematics, or who can, in fact, read maps, use more of the "opposite" brain matter than their counterparts or do they utilise the same-sex matter to do those tasks as well? I can't, however, access the journal to find out and don't really feel like paying $30US for one 250K pdf article. And they say science is accessible for the perusal of the masses *rolls eyes*

Funny-ish sideline: If this becomes general notice, who wants to bet that somehow the phrase "using your grey matter" will be outlawed as sexist and non-PC? hehehehehe.

I just realised it's Wednesday already, and I am behind, as usual. Unfortunately, yesterday was a write-off: one of my cats fell unwell and I spent a lot of time at the vet's. We have the paralysis tick up here and it seems Shayd picked up one, and despite the fact I check them regularly, I missed this one: probably because her smoky grey (like the Russian Blue) colour is a perfect camouflage for the tick. But I didn't feel it either. Fortunately the vet found it but she required the medication to reverse tick poisoning. However, she reacted to the medication as well, and so was a sick little puppy last night. She's fine now (although still very lethargic and definitely more sooky), but by the time I'd finished with her it was time to pick up the kids from school.

Not a lot of sleep this week, either: I've been dreaming all week so I wake up tired... they've been very active this full moon; I always seem to be running to do something. Can't think why! *grin*

Not complaints though.

The good news is that #2 is really enjoying high school so far... apparently he really, really likes something called "performing arts". People who know him will find this funny! People who know him well will find it really funny because I've been saying to him that he needs to get into a drama class for years, and his response has always been "I. Will never. Do drama!!" in the most dramatic tone possible. When I told him that "performing arts" and "drama" were synonymous he didn't talk to me for almost an hour. hehe. He still likes it though.

#5 has learned "s" and "a" phonics. He's happy. Is good.

Been watching a fascinating docuseries on Shakespeare while getting some ironing done, fortuitous that these arrived from fetchme this week because #1 son is studying some this year (although I hope this doesn't turn him off altogether!). It's called In Search of Shakespeare and it was put together by Michael Wood, the same guy who did In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great (a series I own on video). I love this guy. What I wouldn't do to sit down for just one hour of conversation with him. His fascination and enthusiasm for history is infectious and he digs up some great stuff. When I find some spare money (ha!) I will be off to the ABC shop to get a copy of the series.

But, anyhows. I have to be back in Brissy tomorrow night so I'd better catch up with everything... I think I'm going to end up using the dryer at the laundromat, though, at this rate!

posted by Heather @ 10:01 am