This is why men take more risks than women, according to science

A new study from Frontiers in Neuroscience reports that according to brain waves, men engage in more risk-taking behavior than women.

The science behind risk-taking

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human and Cognitive Brain Sciences at HSE University in Russia recently took samples from 35 participants, 15 of which were women, whose brains were analyzed through a magnetoencephalography scan (MEG).

This scanning machine, MEG, is a close cousin to the EEG machine, which is a common medical procedure. Defined by Hopkins as a test in which electrodes are attached to your brain, intended to detect small electrical charges given off by your various brain cell activity. These electrical charges are so tiny that they’re impossible to detect in any other way. A MEG scan, as opposed to an EEG scan, is much more accurate and is able to detect local sources of electricity in the brain, and better spatial resolution.

In this particular study, once hooked up to the various MEG machines, participants were tasked to play a game whereupon they select several 1 of 100 “mystery boxes,” each of which contained a cash prize. One of these 100 boxes also contained a “bomb” that would take away all of the cash prizes the contestant had won in previous rounds. The contestants also went through two rounds of further questionnaires, self-reporting their own sense of risk and self-control.

In the box selection portion of the study, men displayed more of a willingness to take risks than women. On their first play of the box game, men risked significantly more than women, choosing 44 boxes over women’s average first choice of 31.

After playing the game a number of times, men on average selected 48 boxes whereas women selected 40. In the questionnaires portion of the study, men appeared to be more optimistic about the outcomes of their choices, and they have a harder time believing that their risks will result in negativity.

Interestingly, the results of the brain scans yielded results that were in line with the self-reports. Researchers found that the anterior cingulate cortex, a region of the brain surrounding the temporal lobe, plays a huge part in risk-taking and decision-making. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is often involved in higher-level functions like attention, memory, rewards, ethics or morals, and impulse control.

Activation of the ACC has been researched in the past as well, especially in the case of reward-seeking and impulse control. Prior studies show that the ACC generally activates at the perceived likelihood of the individual making a potential error in behavior. Scientists say that perhaps this is because the ACC helps execute a measure of cognitive control, and the more highly it’s activated, the more risk one will avoid.

What does it mean for you?

In this particular study from HSE University, brain scans found that in the anterior cingulate cortex, women have more frontal theta asymmetry than men, meaning that the brain waves oscillating between the two hemispheres are uneven. The more uneven the wave transmission, the less likely one is to take risks, meaning that women in this study were generally less risk-taking than men, whose theta waves registered as more symmetrically transmitted.

Theta wave strength has been known to be a predictor of behavior rather than motivation, however, so while researchers can tell what we’re doing, there’s no key to unlock the mystery of why we do it.