Testosterone prevented men from quickly finding cucumbers in the refrigerator

Scientists say the hormone has a depressant effect on the brain

The brains of men and women work differently when it comes to abstract thinking, problem solving and cognitive functions. Which, in turn, can lead to a decrease in search efficiency, the researchers say.

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A brain researcher believes that because of the male hormone, a man may not find a cucumber in the refrigerator as easily as a woman.

Neuroscientist Martha Roa Sivertsen tried to see explain and answer this question “why men are worse at finding things.”

“Testosterone has a mild depressant effect on the male brain,” says neuroscientist Marte Roa Sivertsen. — What you see is important. What you perceive with your senses, that is, with your eyes. What of this reaches your consciousness?”

She proves her point with a video of two teams playing basketball and a person being tasked with counting the number of times each team hits the ball. After counting, the respondent is satisfied, but he is asked the question “Have you seen a gorilla?” A dissatisfied person will watch the video and look for the primate, and he will succeed: a gorilla walks in the background among the basketball players and beats its chest. This phenomenon is explained by the fact that people cannot do more than one thing at a time.

The researcher's answer sparked a discussion among women and men journalists.

“Cucumbers often have a permanent place in the refrigerator, like downstairs with vegetables. If someone ate a cucumber and put it somewhere else, it could be confusing for people like you who don't see it,” the woman said. Men have a different point of view: “But everything cannot have a permanent place! The cucumber doesn’t need it — it’s such a feminine thing.”

“I have complete control over where everything is. I rarely have to look there, mainly because I’m the one who arranges everything,” says brain researcher Martha Roa Sivertsen

A neuroscientist was asked whether “losing a cucumber in the refrigerator” depends on gender? She said that who puts away groceries or cleans the house is an important factor. But there is something else: if the cucumber is not where it really should be, then we can talk about abstract thinking.

Sivertsen said that in order to be able to see with your own eyes what it’s not there, you have to look for something that is not in sight.

If we consider who cleans better, according to the neuroscientist, we could conduct statistics. But there may also be gender differences here. Women tend to clean more than men, so they know where everything is.

Many people think that the problem is the differences in the brains of women and men: “If you look at the female and male brain: the structure , size, as well as function, then the answer will generally be no.”

However, the researcher points to one important biological difference: sex hormones. According to her, men have more testosterone, which, according to research, affects functions involved in searching for things.