According to previous studies conducted by USA Today, women speak almost three times as much as men (surprise surprise!).
Results showed that women spoke an average of twenty-thousand words and men only spoke about seven thousand words per day. After research and experiments involving FOXP2, a protein produced within the brain, scientists believe the production of this protein to be linked with communication. The study, first published on February 20th, was carried out on baby female and male rats, and then compared to data that was gathered from studies in young children.
Knowing that male rats are much more vocal and communicative as opposed to female rats, researchers believe they made a prime testing subject. First the scientists counted the number of ultrasonic range cries that the newborn rats made when separated from their mother. Ultrasonic range means above the range in which humans are capable of hearing. When the rats were separated from their mothers for exactly five minutes, it was noted that males made twice as many cries compared to the female rats. The male rats were also shown to possess twice the amount of FOXP2 in their brains. Once the mothers were released into the cage, they tended to the males first.
Next, researchers controlled the production of FOXP2 in the female rats, so they made more of the protein and in males, so they made less protein. Repeating the experiment, the female rats let out more cries and again, when the mothers went back to the cages, they tended to the female rats first. Margaret McCarthy, a professor of pharmacology at the University of Maryland believed that based on the current observations, a higher level of FOXP2 protein is associated with more communication. To back up this statement, researchers also studied levels of FOXP2 in children. In four year old girls and boys, the girl’s levels were 30 percent higher than that of the boys.
Even without studies, one just observing could take notice that women talk much more than men. For example, my mother calls me a hundred times a day and can talk on and on but my father gets to the point when he speaks and doesn’t seem to speak nearly as much as my mother. Hold on, I think I hear my phone ringing.
laurenelisabetta 