While it’s not exactly true that men are from Mars and women from Venus, scientific evidence shows they are wired differently. Anecdotally speaking, men tend to gravitate toward math and science disciplines, while women lean toward excellence at language.

To study brain connectivity, researchers use a type of scan called DTI, a technique that maps the diffusion of water molecules within brain tissue, tracing fiber pathways that connect different regions of the brain. Female brains contain about 9.5 times as much white matter, the substance that connects various parts of the brain. The bridge of nerve tissue that connects the right and left side of the brain is stronger in women, perhaps explaining why they are more equipped for multitasking. Women activate both the left and right hemispheres when listening to language. The frontal area and the temporal area of the cortex are bigger and better organized, helping women score better on attention, facial recognition, and social cognition. Women are faster and more accurate when identifying emotions and seem better at controlling them.

In contrast, men tend to focus on a single issue and excel at it. Studies of male brains show fewer connections between the right and left hemispheres. Male brains are about 10 percent larger than female brains and contain about 6.5 times more gray matter, or “thinking matter.” Men appear to be better at special processing, meaning that they are more aware of where they sit on a map (and also that they are less likely to ask for directions). They rely on the hippocampus to place where they are, whereas women tend to rely on landmarks. But it’s not all good news for the male sex—men are more susceptible to attention deficit disorder and lack of impulse control.

Despite these differences, women and men still have a lot in common. “All of these things have overlapping distributions. There are many women with better-than-average spatial skills, and men with good writing skills,” says David Geary, professor of psychological services at the University of Missouri. Some researchers argue that exercising one’s brain, especially at a young age, can enhance areas of difficulty. Most importantly, while men and women take different routes, they perform equally well on broad measures of cognitive ability.

Reference: 100 Mysteries of Science (By Popular Science)