Photo by digitalbob8
Male brains are characterized as being more heavily systematic and mechanical. Most men have a balanced brain, but some have an extreme case of male-characterized brain. The empathizing-systemizing theory divides people into 5 groups.
More males than females typically have a Type S brain which is better at systemizing than feeling empathy, while more females than males have a Type E brain which is better at feeling empathy than systemizing.
Systemizing is characterized as the desire to form structures or systems that follow specific rules. Studies show that about 65% of people with autism or Asperger syndrome have an Extreme Type S brain. The other two types of brains are Type B which is a balanced brain between empathy and systemizing, and the Extreme Type E brain.
In a study conducted by British psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen, he theorized that the extreme male brain could be a cause for autism. Baron-Cohen states that people with autism are unaware of people’s emotions. They are incapable of being in touch with the empathetic side of their brain. Baron-Cohen calls this mindblindness.
The female brain is characterized as being more empathetic.
People suffering from autism believe that other people think the same way that they do – an extreme case of not being able to feel empathy. Studies show that men are about four times more likely to be autistic than women, which falls in line with Baron-Cohen’s theory. However there are exceptions to this, because some females who are autistic have what would be considered an extreme male brain.
Other studies conducted in regards to testosterone further assist in proving Baron-Cohen’s theory. A study done by scientists at the University of Cambridge shows that children who are exposed to advanced levels of testosterone prior to birth have a higher chance of developing autistic traits. This study, as well as Baron-Cohen’s study, used children who do not actually have autism. This causes some scientists to be a bit weary of Baron-Cohen’s theory.
So what happens to someone with an extreme female brain? Evolutionary biologists Bernard Crespi of Simon Fraser University in Canada and Christopher Badcock of the London School of Economics and Political Science discovered what could possibly be a revealing theory for the answer to this question. The female brain is characterized as being more empathetic. They treat machines and objects like people – as if they had feelings and thoughts.
An extreme form of this can be considered a form of paranoid schizophrenia. Paranoid schizophrenics hear voices and believe in thoughts that do not actually exist. They are hypermentalistic (they create higher levels of minds and emotions in other people), whereas people with autism are hypomentalistic (they fail to attribute minds and emotions in other people). Crespi and Badcock state that some studies show a connection between low birth weight and slow growth and schizophrenia.
In between these two extremes lies a normal form of cognition. For those of us who do not have an Extreme E or S brain, we still lean towards one extreme or the other. We all show signs of being more akin to systemizing or empathizing.
