10 Interesting & Funny Facts About Men’s Brains

A man’s brain is a thing of mystery. No one truly knows what lies behind every thought and action that springs forth from it. Women, as much as they try, have difficulty unlocking the door and understanding the closely guarded secrets of the male brain.

Nevertheless, there are a few secrets about men’s brains that have been discovered by science. Are you eager to be in the know? Check out the following interesting facts about men:

1. Some men actually stop wanting to sow their wild oats.

Photo credit: steelight

Are you in shock over this one? After all, it’s a common assumption that men find it hard to be faithful. They are usually depicted as wild stallions that want to remain free from any attachmentin order to fully enjoy their freedom.

Well, here’s the truth: after the age of 30, guys can have a strong urge to remain loyal to their partners. In the year 2007, there was a study published about the matter in the Proceedings of the Royal Society. The Bolivian men who served as the subjects in the said study, were found to be capable of making it their priority to provide for their families.

Furthermore, those who don’t possess the “promiscuity gene,” about 6 men out of 10, are more likely to get hitched. Of course, that still means there are 4 out 10 men who are prone to beingunfaithful.

2. They’re extremely concerned about who’s in charge.

Drill Instructor (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here comes another interesting fact about men – at the tender age of 6, boys start to be preoccupied with setting a stable hierarchy. They get anxious when there’s an unstable or nonexistent pecking order and thrive in settings where the issue of who’s boss is crystal clear. This might explain why a lot of men are dying to be in the military and other such work settings. The unambiguous chain of command is something that men truly appreciate and is quite useful in lowering testosterone levels and reining in male aggression. Hmm. Wonder how they truly feel about women being in charge?

3. Guys also undergo hormonal changes when their wives are expecting.

(Photo credit: Jason Pier)

One of the funny facts about men is that they actually undergo hormonal changes when their wives are carrying their babies. Few people are aware of this phenomenon. Hormonal surges are more commonly associated with the highly emotional pregnant women. After all, soon-to-be mothers are notoriously known for erratic mood swings that send their husbands running for cover. Who would have time to think that the husbands were also experiencing a few hormonal changes?

Well, a study published in 2000 in Evolution and Human Behavior found that men’s prolactin levels rise as their testosterone levels drop during the months before they become fathers. Men’s brains are also geared up for cooperation as well.

4. As they age, males become less competitive and more cooperative.

Photo credit: Klearchos Kapoutsis

Have you ever marveled at how competitive the males of our species can be? Men as a gender have a reputation for being power-hungry and competitive. Boys want to have the best cars, teenage guys compete for the perfect dates, and grown men yearn for the topmost station in life. Is there no end to all that competitiveness?

There is, according to a 2009 research printed in an issue of the Hormones and Behavior journal. As more years are added to a man’s life, he slowly loses an appetite for testosterone-fueled competition and leans toward bettering the community. If an older man does participate in competitions, he usually favors contents that need team cooperation.

5. Their unique daddy-play is favorable to kids.

Dad playing with daughter (Photo credit: Chiceaux Lynch)

Daddies play with their kids in a distinct way. They tease their kids a lot, engage them in more rough-housing, and tend to be more spontaneous with their play methods. While a mom might view rough play as being bad for kids, the special type of play that a dad and his kid engage in might actually do a lot of good.

Studies discovered that such types of play prepare children for the harsher real world by teaching them to become more confident and learn better. It has also been shown that when a dad is more involved with his children, they are less likely to exhibit risky sexual behavior.

6. Men are highly protective of their territory.

A little jealousy brewing? (Photo credit: Luke Saagi)

While women are also prone to fits of blinding jealousy, men are particularly prone to violence when their territory, security, or loved ones are threatened. Most people would attribute this tendency to high levels of testosterone, but no one really knows for sure the cause behind such a behavior. It could be as simple as a survival instinct that’s been passed on from one generation to another as the human species evolved. Maybe future research will reveal that the human male’s brain simply has a larger portion dedicated to defense compared to the human female’s brain, which is the case for other mammals.

7. They’re programmed to check out women.

Photo credit: Karsten Siferlin

With this interesting fact about men, guys can finally breathe a sigh of relief – they now have an excuse to give whenever their partners catch them checking out other gorgeous female specimens (good luck with that!). Women, you can point the finger at testosterone.

Apart from being associated with hostility and aggression, the said hormone also plays a huge role when it comes to a guy’s libido. It has also been found to impair the male brain’s impulse-control centers. This might be the reason why men automatically ogle women as if it’s an auto-pilot response.

8. Males are natural problem solvers.

Photo credit: Raymond Brigleb

Guys usually get a lot of flak about not being able to empathize as well as women. Well, to set things straight, they do – it’s just that their empathy gets placed on a back burner while their brains are searching for the solution to the problem at hand. The “solve-it” center of the malebrain rapidly takes the reigns, so that men are already searching for ways to fix the matter as women are still expressing their empathy. At least this way, the stressed or problematic person gets the best of both worlds – the empathy he craves and the solution he needs.

9. They can be just as lonely as women!

“The Ordea” (Photo credit: Henry Lee)

Women love to share their feelings and express their feelings when they feel loneliness, but most men just tend to keep quiet. Men who do express loneliness or depression are often old to “man up”. This doesn’t mean, though, that men are less likely to feel the emotion itself. Author ofThe Male Brain, Dr. Louann Brizendine, says that older guys are particularly vulnerable to the effects loneliness can have on one’s health and brain. Because they don’t reach out as much as women, men are more prone to developing ill effects from being lonely.

Guys, don’t fret too much. Studies show that living with women can work wonders on preventing loneliness and its toll on the brain and body. Of course, you won’t find out for sure unless you enter a stable relationship with a woman.

10. During infancy, boys are more emotionally reactive than girls.

Photo credit: Zechariah Judy

This one probably comes as a shock. Females are usually viewed as the more emotional of the sexes, but males are actually capable of being more emotionally reactive – they just learn how to hide their emotions and adopt a poker face when handling things. This is probably why the emotional tendency is more apparent in infant boys; they just haven’t learned how to hide their “unmanly” feelings yet.

The male brain is indeed cryptic. There may have been a few interesting and funny facts aboutmen revealed here today, but there’s a lot more about men that still needs to be discovered. It comes as no surprise why they are labeled as “coming from Mars.”