By By Leada Devaney, Hartselle Enquirer
In a startling piece of medical news, it was announced this week than women's brains are wired to feel and recall emotions more keenly than men's brains.
Duh. I wonder how many medical geniuses it took to come up with this one?
The study appeared in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Science," not exactly bedtime reading for most of us folks. Participants – both men and women – were shown pictures of various things and their neural responses were examined through use of an MRI.
The participants were shown pictures of things such as bodies, gravestones and crying people, all in an effort to judge their emotional response. They were also shown pictures of everyday things, such as a bookcase, a fireplug and a bathroom that needed cleaning.
One has to wonder how that last one registered and how the reactions differed between the sexes. Without generalizing too much, let's just say I bet one group said they would clean the mess and the other said they would just shut the door to the bathroom.
I'll let you make your own call there.
The study also showed that women's brains were better organized to remember important emotional moments in their lives.
This explains so much, doesn't it?
For years, women have been griping at men for forgetting things such as anniversaries, birthdays, what date they were supposed to show up at the church to get married, etc. All this time, men have had a biological reason for forgetting.
I can hear it now: "Really, honey," he will say, "I wanted to remember that I was supposed to marry you on that day, but something just prevented me from doing so. Perhaps it is my biological wiring. Nature of the beast and all."
Of course, as with all such studies, the scientist say there are plenty of variations and one should avoid painting either sex with too broad of a brush.
Not all women are emotionally in tune and not all men are insensitive boors, they said.
Case in point: I was driving down the road with a certain male person the other week when he made the statement that the only birthday he could remember was that of his son.
"Oh really?" I said, filling my voice with enough female-laden emotional reserve to make my point.
"Well, that and someone else's on Jan. 10," he said, quickly covering his tracks.
Obviously, this is one male who has learned to cover his true animal nature.
I can't vouch for how he would react to the picture of the dirty bathroom, though.