Popular beliefs often claim that men have a better sense of direction than women. No, it’s not thanks to their brain but simply to their hormones. Indeed, according to would be due to testosterone, the male sex hormone, according to the conclusions of a study published in the medical journalBehavioral Brain Research.
Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) conducted an experiment with 18 men and 18 women. They asked them to find their way through a virtual maze using 3D glasses and a joystick. Throughout the experiment, the researchers observed the brain activity of the participants by MRI.
This experiment revealed that men were more successful than women, completing twice as many tasks by taking shortcuts and resorting to using the cardinal points (North, South, East, West) to orient themselves.
“The men’s sense of direction was more efficient. They got to their destination faster,” said Carl Pintzka, researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s Department of Neuroscience and co-author of the study. .
Testosterone improves orientation
In a second experiment, the researcher gave 21 women a drop of testosterone and 21 others a placebo. Women who received the male sex hormone were more adept at moving around and using compass points for orientation.
Both experiments revealed that men and women use different parts of their brains to orient themselves. Men use the hippocampus, the part of the brain linked to the cardinal points, more than women, who rely more on visual cues to navigate.
“Since the loss of geographical landmarks is one of the first symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease “recalls the author, “this study will help other scientists to better understand the development of the disease and, since twice as many women suffer from this disease, it could be linked to sex hormones”.
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