Why women are cleverer than men

Why women are cleverer than men Women have long asserted that they are cleverer than men. Now scientists claim to have proved that their intellectual superiority lasts a lifetime. Research on 600 85-year-olds showed the women were much quicker and sharper than the men - despite the female candidates generally having a much lower standard of education. The results suggest the difference between the male and the female brains is biological, not social, say the researchers. Tests have already shown that girls do better at school than boys and continue to do so through university. The latest study theorises that women's brains simply carry on performing for longer because they live longer and so need to be mentally active at a greater age. Doctors carried out memory and recognition word and number tests on every 85-year-old who was willing in the Dutch town of Leiden. Thirty-three per cent of women, compared to 28 per cent of men had good speed in their replies, while four in ten women had a good memory compared to three in ten men. The results are published today in the British Medical Assocation's Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.