From Scientific American
A four-year-old could tell you that men and women are not the same, but even adults struggle to explain why. That is where Why Men Never Remember and Women Never Forget steps in. Citing a plethora of recent research, Marianne J. Legato sets out to describe why men and women vary so widely in their reactions and thoughts. In so doing, she hopes that readers will grasp the science of our biochemically controlled brains and, in light of it, seek to limit discord between men and women in the home and workplace. A tool kit to fix the male-female communication conundrum is an admirable goal, but one that Legato does not quite achieve. Although the science behind our divergent brains provides mini-epiphanies, the focus of the book gets lost in its mix of memoir, guidance and concrete science. The information to help the sexes get along better shows up occasionally, as in a brief reference to a mother who employs what she now knows about the male brain to fi ght less with her teenage son. Still, there are a lot of diversions along the way. One distraction is the decidedly female vantage point taken. Legato, a champion of rectifying medicines lapse in female-focused research, is a doctor who founded Columbia Universitys Partnership for Gender-Specific Medicine, where the word "gender" might as well be "female." For a book trying to bridge knowledge gaps, Legato represents the male world in strikingly few instances. The skewed view may arise from trying to force the theme of "the sexes are from different planets." Legato might have better served the reader by explaining how sex-based brain revelations can affect our liveshow doctors could provide better health care when it is geared toward each sex, how teacher could optimize student learning by tailoring their approaches, and, yes, why women in the bedroom need not be offended if their male partners do not necessarily want to cuddle. Despite missing the opportunity to explore the future relevance of gender brain science, the book does offer a fair amount of enlightening information. Although Legato does not provide that much guidance for how to use our new awareness, a thinking person can start to figure it out. And whether you are male or female, isnt that what our brains are for?
Sarah Todd Davidson
Product Description
Men and women ARE different . . . and this book from the founder of gender medicine uncovers the neuroscientific reasons behind age-old disputes between men and women, while providing a groundbreaking, authoritative, and reader-friendly guide to resolving these differencesWhy won't he ask for directions? Why does she always want to talk about the relationship? Why can't he see that something is bothering her?* But perhaps the biggest questions Why Men Never Remember and Women Never Forget resolves are: Why is it so hard for men and women to understand each other . . . and what can we do about it?According to Dr. Marianne Legato, an internationally recognized expert in gender-specific medicine, male and female brains are chemically and structurally different. And scientists are now finding out how these differences cause us to approach problems and experience the world in such dissimilar ways.So how do we bridge this physiological gap? Dr. Legato provides strategies and tips for learning to "think" like the other sex in order to get past our differences-and offers smart advice for dealing with issues wherever they arise. This trailblazing book will enable readers to understand each other-in both personal and professional relationships-like never before.
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