oh thanks for the info. But couldn't the corpus callosum be enlarged as a RESULT of females being more in touch with their feelings, rather than the cause of it?
@
April
Interesting theory...
However I'm having trouble finding information that can prove for or against this.
Apparently it can be strengthened though. The purpose of the corpus callosum is to process information from one part of the brain to the other, like a bridge I suppose. Scientists believe that people with problems such as dyslexia (such as myself) and ADHD may be caused by insufficient information being passed between the two halves of the brain.
60 to 80% of people that are diagnosed with dyslexia are male. So what does dyslexia have to do with INTP's? absolutely nothing. But what this research shows is the difference between the male and female mind.
Now as for your question, it has been found that musicians have a larger corpus callosum than non musicians. How and why? Its been found that activities such as playing music involves cross hemisphere processing to keep both hand’s movements in time with each other. The same can apply for sports, drawing etc. Anything which requires you to use both sides of your brain simultaneity. It has been shown through multitasking you can strengthen your corpus callosum.
Here's an interesting piece that I came across while gathering information;
When does human brain development end? Evidence of corpus callosum growth up to adulthood.
Department of Neurology, Santa Creu i Sant Pau Hospital, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.
To locate structural changes in the brain accounting for the increasing effectiveness in cognition and skills that occurs at the final stage of behavioral development, we attempted to determine the age at which the corpus callosum completes its active growth period. We assessed the growth rate of the corpus callosum by measuring its area twice on midsagittal magnetic resonance imaging scans separated by a 2-year interval, in a series of 90 subjects with a wide range of ages. We observed an increase in the size of the corpus callosum as long as human mentation expands, up to the middle 20s. Clinical and experimental data about the corpus callosum, together with the present findings, suggest that the corpus callosum is part of the highest order-latest maturing neural network of the brain.
PMID: 8517683 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
So in theory it seems that females are naturally more capable of multitasking, which would make sense if you look at the difference in natural roles between males and females.
So, what does the corpus callosum have to do with feelings vs thinking?
Allot.
Think of it this way, picture that on the right side of the brain you have your residential blocks, parks, schools and libraries etc. and on the left side of the brain you have your commercial and industrial blocks. However you have a gorge that is separating your city in half. Thats where your bridge (corpus callosum) comes into play. The larger and stronger is it, the more efficient its going to be for our sims (information) to get to work.
The left side of our brain is responsible for analyzing information, the right side is responsible for gathering that information. In theory, since in the females corpus callosum is larger, more information from the right side of the brain can be analyzed.
Most people tend to be left brained over right brained, which has got me thinking if S and T functions in MBTI is a result of our left and right brain preferences. According to Wikipedia, 95% of right handed people have left-hemisphere dominance for language whether only about 18% have right hemisphere dominance for their language function. Additionally, about 19% of left-handed people have bilateral language functions
Lets look at the differences between the left and right side of the brain;
Left hemisphere functions
- Numerical computation (exact calculation, numerical comparison, estimation).
- Left hemisphere only: direct fact retrieval.
- Language: grammar/vocabulary, literal.
Right hemisphere functions
- Numerical computation (approximate calculation, numerical comparison, estimation).
- Language: intonation/accentuation, prosody, pragmatic, contextual.
Any more questions?