"I've Scanned 250,000 Brains" - Here's How Men Really Think & Fall In Love! | Dr. Daniel Amen PT 1 (Fan Fave)

Lisa Bilyeu (0:00)

What up, my homies, it's Lisa Bilyeu. And have I got an interesting and fascinating interview for you today on Women of Impact that's going to blow your mind, and possibly your brain.

Now today's guest has scanned over 250,000 brains and counting in his career, and is considered a cutting edge, world renowned brain expert. That's right, it's my good old mate, Dr. Daniel Amen. And today, in this interview, Dr. Amen is answering all of my questions about the brain and the biggest difference between the sexes. You want to know why the guy can never find the thing in the cupboard or why he keeps forgetting your anniversary or your birthday? Well, this episode explains it all, guys. We're also digging into the difference in how we see love, romance and betrayal. And that's just the beginning of all the freaking nuggets of wisdom that this man partakes on us, because that's just part one of this convo. Alright, without further ado, I'm Lisa Bilyeu and let's dive in to Women of Impact. Now you've scanned over 250,000 brains and have concluded that yes, men and women's brains are different and it can actually show up in subtle ways that can have massive impact. So what are the differences and how does that lead to a big impact on our relationship?

Daniel Amen (1:20)

So I actually published, I think it's the world's largest study on gender.

And on 46,000 scans, looking at, well, what's the difference between male brains and female brains? And it's sort of like we're not the same species. The female brain, especially in the emotional circuits of the brain, are very busy, much more active. Their frontal lobe, so that's the front third of your brain, largest in humans than any other animal, by far significantly more active in the female brain. Now, the prefrontal cortex is called the executive part of the brain. It's sort of like the boss at work, and it's involved with things like forethought, judgment, impulse control, organization, planning, empathy, learning from the mistakes you make. Significantly more active in women. And the one statistic that shows that's absolutely true is who goes to jail.

Males, 14 times more than females because they're not thinking ahead. You know, if I do this, this is going to happen. If I say this, this is going to happen. Males and females both have their own significant strengths, but the strengths of the female brain is forethought. It's conscientiousness, it's collaboration.

That is why they actually make really good leaders. But because of the busyness of their emotional brain, they also suffer with depression twice as much as males. And they attempt suicide three times more than men. But men are more successful at suicide three times more than women because they use more violent means. And often suicide attempts for women is a cry for help. But because men are generally not as good at communicating, they hold things in until it's too late.

Lisa Bilyeu (3:43)

Oh my God. So there's so much there that I'd actually really love to dive into because I think that as you were breaking it down, is that if we really are almost like two different species, no wonder sometimes we look at each other like the other person's nuts. So let's just even orient people on everything you're saying. It doesn't mean that women or men are better. Because when people say that they're not the same, it's funny how people get their backup of like, yes, we are. I just, no one's better or worse. But we're different. So now if we're different, how on earth do we use our differences to understand each other and actually collaborate better instead of being at each other's throats and calling each other crazy and nuts and things like that. Okay. So you say there's a lot of strengths with women and a lot of challenges with women's brains. So let's just go through a few of those if you don't mind. So you said that women are more likely to worry more.

Daniel Amen (4:35)

Their emotional brain, especially in an area called the anterior, just means toward the front, cingulate gyrus.

It's a part of a network in the brain called the default mode network. Female brains, wildly more busy. So they think more, they process more, they worry more. And it's just because the gear shifter in the brain is very busy compared to male brains. Now, we have to understand, there are some males that have a very busy anterior cingulate, and some females where it's full. Right. So these are in general terms. But when I look at a scan, I generally can tell how old the scan is, how old the person is, and whether or not it's male or female.