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Women's Brains and Migraines

FitSugar — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 02:00:00 PDT

It is no secret that the female brain is different than its male counter part. It seems these differences are giving us headaches, and I mean that literally. Women are 3 times more likely to suffer from migraines. A recent study proved that it isn't all in our heads (figuratively speaking).

Advances in brain imaging technology now suggest that migraines may start as a result of brain excitability. People with migraines show dramatic waves of brain activity that spread across the surface of the brain. This activity is thought to trigger not only the severe pain associated with migraines but also the visual symptoms, dizziness, and difficulty concentrating often associated with migraines. Researchers believe many factors, like genes, hormones, and environmental triggers like stress, diet, and
changes in sleep patterns, may contribute to migraines in both sexes.

For further reading on this topic, check out the article Why Women Have More Migraines than Men at the Science Daily.

Source

Hello, Memorial Day: Vacation Sex Is the Best Sex, Says America

YourTango — Mon, 28 May 2012 04:00:17 PDT

We're happy to present this excerpt from one of our favorite sites, YourTango. Today, we have some thoughts on vacation sex.

Memorial Day Weekend is upon us, ladies and gentlemen - 'tis the season to wear white jeans, indulge in a back yard barbeque and, of course, go on vacation.

Speaking of vacation, traveling can be quite the romantic experience. Sure, there is likely plenty of nagging, awkward sunburns and uncomfortable TSA frisking associated with getaways, but there's lots of sex involved, too, say the survey aficionados at Zoosk. They picked the brains of 1,500 Americans for their thoughts on travel, romance and - of course - sex.

Zoosk found that 69 percent of men and 72 percent of women think having sex while on vacation is better than doing it at home. Is sun and sand the reason we're so turned on while at the beach? Or, perhaps, the musty smell of a muggy hotel room in the Caribbean? Sadly, those questions aren't answered, but there's plenty to learn about the best - and worst - of couples vacations.

Getting there. As relaxing as lying on a beach with a cocktail in hand sounds, the preparation for vacation can cause copious amounts of stress, especially for couples. One-third of Americans worry that they'll be selected for an additional pat down (or worse) by the TSA before takeoff.

Where to go. The beach was the most popular destination for a romantic getaway, with 22 percent of the vote. A romantic city (Paris comes to mind) came in second with 19 percent, with cruises and "exotic, far-flung locales" tied at third with 15 percent each. Other romantic destinations included bed and breakfasts and camping, but we're having trouble associating the "best sex ever" with mosquito bites getting in the way.

For the rest of the article, head to YourTango: Hello, Memorial Day: Vacation Sex Is The Best Sex, Says America

Written by Lydia Belton for YourTango.

8 Myths About Sex Differences

The Good Men Project — Fri, 25 May 2012 02:00:49 PDT

We're happy to present this story from one of our favorite sites, The Good Men Project. Today, Agustín Fuentes points out that when it comes to men and women, what "everyone knows" isn’t what science shows.

Everyone knows that men and women are really different. We think differently and act differently because we are wired differently. I mean look at our brains and genitals: they are just plain different. Right?

Wrong.

What if many of the things we assume about the biology of difference are not so different at all? What if it is not our “wiring” but the ways in which our bodies and minds develop and play out in society that makes us seem so unalike? Could it be that men and women are more similar than we think?

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Yes, women give birth and lactate and men do not. And yes, men are, on average, slightly larger than women and usually have greater upper body strength. There are these basic biological differences between the sexes and they are important . . . but why always focus on the differences and not the biological, and behavioral, similarities? Ahh, that would be because of gender.

Gender is a powerful reality; it is the perception and expectation of differences between males and females and it shapes both our bodies and our society. Gender differences are real and important, but they are not hard wired or even static. There is no biological or evolutionary mandate that only women really care for babies and show emotions, or that males are the best at economics and politics and prefer beers and skirt-chasing to domestic bliss. These are patterns of gender roles and expectations that shape the ways we look at our biology and behavior. They influence the way we expect the world to be. It is the strength of the societal myths about sex that fool us into thinking that men and women are so different by nature.

So let’s bust some of those myths.

Gender and sex are the same thing.

Sex and gender are interconnected, but not the same thing. Sex is a biological state that is measured via what chromosomes you have (XX or XY, usually) and aspects of your body and physiology. Gender includes the roles, expectations and perceptions that a given society has for the sexes. Most societies have two genders on a masculinity-femininity continuum. Some have more. We are born with a biological sex, but acquire gender. There is a ton of individual diversity within societies and sexes in regards to how sex and gender play out in behavior and personality.

There is an extensive body of data demonstrating this, but people interested only in specific differences between men and women choose to ignore it.

Male and female genitals are totally different.

Most people think that male and female genitals are about as different as can be: penis=male and vagina=female. But even this basic dichotomy is not quite correct: the genitals emerge from the same mass of embryonic tissue. For the first six weeks of life the tissue masses develop identically. At about 6-7 weeks, depending on whether the fetus has XX or XY chromosomes (usually), the tissues to start to differentiate. One part of the tissues begins to form the clitoris or penis and another forms the labia or scrotum. Another area begins to form into either the testes or the ovaries. This means that physiologically, male and female genitals are made of the same stuff and work in similar ways.

Male and female brains are different.

If there were really deep seated differences between male and female human behavior and biology they should show up in the brain. The genitals start in the same place and end up looking different, the brain does not. Our brains are pretty much the same. Male brains are a bit bigger than females’ (like their bodies) and females’ brains stop growing earlier than males (as with their bodies). However, whatever one may believe about other organs, in the case of healthy brains, size really does NOT matter one iota. There also might be a few differences in a small part of the brain called the straight gyrus (need more testing in this one). Other than these minor aspects there are no consistent and replicated reliable differences in male and female brains; it is a human brain . . . but how we use it is another matter.

Hormones make the difference.

Everyone thinks that males and females have different hormones . . . testosterone for men and estrogen for women. Nope, all the actual hormones in males and females are the same: there are no male-only or female-only hormones. Both men and women can get a flood of testosterone when they get into a fight or take part in an exhilarating sports match. Both men and women can get a flood of oxytocin and prolactin when they pick up a newborn baby. There can be differences in the levels, patterns, and impacts of some of these hormones in male and female bodies, but individual variation is often more important than the variation between the sexes.

Keep reading for the rest.

10 Cool Facts About Olfaction

BellaSugar — Thu, 24 May 2012 03:30:00 PDT

We all have a sense of smell, and we all use it constantly, whether we realize it or not. Scents and smell are two of the most important yet often overlooked elements of everyday experience. Want to learn a few truly amazing facts about the things your nose knows? Then just keep reading.

5 Reasons Why You Should Remember to Eat More Berries

Michele Foley — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:54:32 PDT

Berry season is right around the corner, and if a big bowl of strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries didn't excite you before, maybe this news will: eating at least two servings of berries per week can help delay age-related memory loss in women. A recent Harvard study followed 16,010 women over the age of 70, finding those who ate berries slowed memory loss by almost three years. Researchers cite the plethora of antioxidants packed into these small fruits as being the reason. If preventing memory loss weren't enough, here are five more reasons why you should up your berry intake.

They help with weight loss: Berries are loaded with the antioxidant anthocyanin, which has been shown to alter the activity of genes found in human fat cells, making it more difficult to put on weight. Blueberries, specifically, have been shown to diminish stubborn belly fat.
They are good for your brain: Investigators with the US Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging in Boston found that the polyphenols in berries help the part of the brain that takes care of regular maintenance and "housekeeping." Blueberries and strawberries were said to contain the most polyphenols.
They are good for your eyes: Berries, especially blueberries and raspberries, contain lutein, which is important for healthy eyes and sharp vision.
They help protect against disease: Berries are brimming with carotenoids, an antioxidant that has been shown to reduce the risk of cancer. Other phytonutrients in berries have been shown to protect against heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis. Those deep hues pay off tenfold when it comes to maintaining the health of your body.
They help slow down the aging process: The powerful antioxidants in berries prevent free radical damage in your body, and less free radical damage means slowing down the aging process to help you live longer!

Amped up for berry season yet? Mix things up by making one of these healthy berry recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and cocktail hour!

Famous Women With Alternative Views on Happily Ever After

Annie Scudder — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 08:00:00 PDT

Wedding season is in full force, but not all women are committed to the institution of marriage. With career success, friendships, travel, or other hobbies taking priority, many women don't have bridal on the brain. Or perhaps experience has helped some decide traditional relationships just won't work for them. Famous women often make headlines when they say "I don't" to marriage, kids, or other trappings of a conventional happily ever after. To balance out mainstream marriage mania, here are a few of the more articulate quotes from celebrities with alternative views on relationships.

Types of Princesses and What We Can Learn From Them

Tara Block — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:30:00 PDT

Today kicks off the first-ever National Princess Week! With fairy-tale-inspired movies aplenty (including multiple Snow White flicks), Pixar's first princess Merida hitting the big screen in Brave, and Prince William's own princess Kate in the spotlight, little girls and grown women alike have tiaras on the brain. And sure there are downsides to princess culture, but there are also lessons to be gleaned from these regal ladies. From real-life royalty to Disney characters, let's look at 10 different types of princesses and what we can learn from them (and it's not how to be like Mean Girls).

There Is No Gender War

The Good Men Project — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 02:00:59 PDT

We're happy to present this story from one of our favorite sites, The Good Men Project. Noah Brand makes the case for a non-adversarial model of gender.

I get asked, from time to time, what I think about the “war between feminists and MRAs (Men's Rights Activists).”

I’ll be frank - I don’t think there’s any such thing. It’s like asking me what I think of the demolition of Toontown.

The Manichaean Fallacy is a very common trap in human cognition. It’s the constant temptation to reduce any situation of perceived conflict down to an absolute battle between two pure opposing forces, equal in strength and power, which can only end in absolute victory for one side and defeat for the other.

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For whatever reason, our brains really, really like to frame things this way, to where we’ll hammer situations that don’t fit until we can make ‘em fit. There aren’t really two sides? We’ll mentally assign people to teams. The sides aren’t purely homogenous? We’ll just pretend they are. The two sides aren’t remotely equal? We’ll just talk as though they were. There, that only took three steps, and now we have a nice, comfortable model that doesn’t resemble reality at all.

There’s a secondary fallacy, where some folks like to tell themselves that ultimate truth is always at a midway point between the two perfectly opposed sides that they imagine. You’ve heard these guys, “Well, there are extremists on both sides, but I find the truth is usually somewhere in the middle. If only people were willing to compromise . . . ” In other words, they pick two imaginary points, derive a third imaginary point from them, and call the result objectivity. These folks are fun because you don’t have to torture them with rats to get them to truly believe that 2+2=5. You just have to get some of the pundits on TV saying that 2+2=6.

The “war” between feminists and MRAs is a creation of this fallacy, including the “well, maybe there’s a middle ground” corollary. It makes some folks feel like they’re in an intense, exciting struggle with the whole world at stake, which is a fun thing to pretend to believe.

Thing is, it just isn’t so. Feminists and MRAs are not pure and not equivalent, victory for one does not equal defeat for the other, and it certainly doesn’t map accurately to people’s real-life experiences of gender. I reject the entire silly model as a useless framing of gender roles in our society. It’s a lousy model with no predictive value and I’ll have no truck with it. A better model lies not in the middle, but outside the manichaean conflict entirely.

There’s a principle we discovered over at No Seriously, What About The Menz?, that we named Ozy’s Law. It is simply this: you cannot form a stereotype about either of the two major genders without simultaneously forming a concurrent stereotype about the other. Or, more simply: misandry mirrors misogyny.

Pick out whatever sexist stereotypes offend you, and you’ll find that every one of them has a corollary stereotype. Men always want sex; women never want sex. Men are slobs; women should do housework. Men are shallow and looks-obsessed; women are only valuable for their looks. Men are only valuable for their success and money; women are shallow gold-diggers. There is no end to these, no offensively wrong stereotype that doesn’t carry its offensively wrong twin.

Therefore, the entire asinine notion of gender liberation as a zero-sum game in which one gender must lose for the other to gain . . . simply doesn’t make sense. It cannot make sense. Men and women can only be liberated together, or not at all.
We cannot liberate men from the trap of the success myth without liberating women from the beauty myth. We cannot liberate women from being nothing but housewives without liberating men from being nothing but breadwinners. We cannot liberate everyone from repressive and outdated sexual roles if we’re only going to pick at the edges of the problem, trying to free this person’s penis or that person’s vagina. At this point in the game, we are either freeing everyone from repressive gender roles or we’re just fucking around.

That in mind, I think we should get to work, because the hour is late and we’ve left a lot undone.

More stories from The Good Men Project:

Fit Tip: Keep a Routine For That Runner's High

Leta Shy — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 15:28:42 PDT

Exercise boosts your mood, but not everyone has experienced the runner's high, that feel-good rush many exercise fans swear by. New research has found, however, that we are all naturally wired to experience a runner's high when we exercise.

Researchers found that unlike other animals, humans have evolved to experience an overload of a release of pleasurable chemicals in the brain, called endocanabinoids, after an intense workout. That means we're motivated to exercise, and stick to a workout routine, since we're rewarded with feel-good chemicals when we do (it doesn't stop at just a runner's high; a different study found that some women even orgasm while they exercise).

If you're just starting a fitness regimen it may take awhile for your body to experience the runner's high reward, since it takes intense exercise to release the chemicals, researchers say. But don't be discouraged; if you stick with it and keep ramping up your workout, that feel-good rush is just around the corner.

Strategies to Get Your Energy Back

Health — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:13:28 PDT

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Health.com here on our site.

Can't seem to get enough rest? To-do list dragging you down? Hit refresh with these foods, moves, and must-dos for a more revved-up you.
By Mary Kate Frank

Wish you were still bounding out of bed like you did when you were 22? Who doesn't! But it can be hard to summon all your old verve in the midst of the daily grind.

"The main reason I see for loss of energy in women is that they have too much to do," says Michael Roizen, MD, chief wellness officer at the Cleveland Clinic and founder of youbeauty.com. "There's a merry-go-round of caring for kids, caring for parents, working, and not paying attention to yourself or getting proper sleep."

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Sometimes there's a medical cause (like a vitamin deficiency or thyroid disorder) for a lack of energy. If you feel deeply fatigued all the time, schedule a checkup ASAP. But if your sluggishness is just a case of you on overload, the good news is that you can do something about it yourself. Here, Dr. Roizen and other health pros share strategies for putting the pep back in your step.

Sleep more soundly
Although it's true that you naturally begin to sleep more lightly in your mid-40s - a result of changes in brain waves as you age - you can start having trouble catching zzz's much sooner. "I've got patients who at age 30 are sleeping like 60-year-olds because of stress," says Michael Breus, PhD, author of The Sleep Doctor's Diet Plan.

A good night's rest is essential to waking up fully energized. Learn a few simple steps to snooze smarter after the break: