Page 89 - Mind Games The Aging Brain and How to Keep it Healthy

Teach Your Brain Agility • 73

Men Women
See in a narrow field Greater peripheral vision

Greater depth perception Less depth perception
More sensitive to saltiness More sensitive to sweets
Greater preference for sweets

Better hand-eye coordination Better at reading facial features
Better at spatial abilities, such Prefer to turn a map so that it is
as constructing 3D objects from oriented in the same direction as
a flat design they are traveling

Give directions using north, Give directions using visual cues,
south, etc. such as “turn right, there’ll be a
white house on the corner”

Better at abstract mathematical Better at algebraic processes
theories and relationships (better such as adding, dividing, etc.
at story problems)
More prone to verbal difficulties; Better verbal abilities
almost all people who stutter
are male
4 out of 5 dyslexics are male Learn to read and write faster
Find it easier to master foreign
languages

These differences in preferential skills and abilities begin
to be noticeable soon after birth and continue into adulthood.
These preferences affect our abilities to notice details and to
communicate in our personal and professional lives; they
even affect the strategies we use to achieve success in our
choice of goals. These differences between the sexes do not
make one sex better than the other. We are different and com-
plement each other. As the French say, “Viva la difference!”

SELF-QUIZ

Were you aware of the many factors affecting your mental
abilities? Let’s take a few moments to review your lifestyle
and preferences.