Re: Do girls have better memory than boys or vice versa?

Hello Peter!!

Thanks for the interesting question. The people who are doing the best science are the ones who are asking the most interesting and important questions. Science is all about asking questions, and designing experiments to get the most specific answers to those questions.

In answer to your question:

Do girls have better memory than boys or vice versa?

I have to say, "It depends." Memory is a very complex process that scientists are only now beginning to fully understand. However, you have hit upon an important (and sometimes controversial) idea that boys' brains are different from girls' brains. In neuroscience, this difference is termed "dimorphic," meaning that there are anatomical as well as functionall differences between boys's brains and girls' brains.

In general, during a baby's development, his or her brain will be affected by the relative amounts of hormones that are present. These hormones influence the development of the brain, and cause it to become either a girl's brain or a boy's brain. So, some differences exist between the two (they are dimorphic). Some people believe that girls' brains have more connections between the two hemispheres than boys' brains do; and that the right hemisphere is dominant in girls whereas the left is dominant in boys; and that girls have a greater capacity for language skills than boys, but boys can be better in math and spatial skills than girls. Of course, all of these differences are broad generalizations, they do not mean that boys are smarter than girls, or vice-versa. Similarly, we cannot say that boys have better memory than girls or vice-versa. But, there are some examples of scientific studies that have suggested (not proven) that girls may have better memory for emotional and verbal events, whereas boys may have better memory for spatial and non-verbal events.

So, Peter, as you can see, there are some differences between the brains of boys and girls, and these differences may affect certain kinds of memory differently for boys and girls. But we can't really say that either boys or girls have better memory, but they may be different.

If your interested in learning more about memory and the brain, I'd suggest having a look at these websites:

• Neuroscience Resources for Kids
• Newton's Apple - Memory
• Emotion, Memory and the Brain (may be too in depth)
• Neurosciences on the Internet
• Or, you may want to stop by the The BrainTainment Center

Keep the great questions coming!!

H a p p y H o l i d a y s ,