In scientific terms, women and men are on the same level of general intelligence, despite what you might see on TV sitcoms.
But researchers at the University of California, Irvine, found there are big differences in brain areas where the sexes derive their intelligence.
The study, done with researchers from the University of New Mexico, showed women nearly have 10 times the amount of white brain matter related to intelligence than men. White matter represents networking between the brain’s processing centers.
In contrast, men have around 6.5 times the gray brain matter than women. Gray matter represents the brain’s processing centers.
Richard Haier, a UCI psychology professor and study leader, said the findings have the potential to help research on dementia and other brain diseases.
Rex Jung, the study’s co-author, said the brain matter differences could explain why men tend to excel in mathematics and other fields that require more local processing, while women do better in language and other tasks that require integrating information from gray-matter brain regions.
Even so, the study’s authors said that no single structure determines general intelligence and that differently designed brains are capable of producing equivalent intellectual performance.
The team studied brain morphology using magnetic resonance imaging and cognitive testing to get its results. The team also found that the more centralized intelligence processing found in women is consistent with other clinical findings showing that frontal brain injuries can be more detrimental to women than men.
Study results appear in the online version of NeuroImage, an academic journal. The study was supported in part by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
County Cancer Projection
Orange County is expected to have the third-highest incidence of new cancer cases and cancer deaths in California in 2005, figures from a new report published by the American Cancer Society show.
The society uses data from the state Department of Health Services’ California Cancer Registry.
The numbers fall in line with population. OC is projected to have some 11,110 new cancer cases this year, trailing only San Diego County’s 11,770 projected cases and Los Angeles County’s 34,540.
Los Angeles is the state’s most populous county, with OC and San Diego closely vying for second.
OC’s cancer deaths are expected to be 4,075 this year, compared to San Diego County’s 4,655 and Los Angeles’ 13,485, according to the report.
As for types of cancers, figures show that 1,880 new breast cancers could be diagnosed, followed by 1,635 prostate cancer cases and 1,305 lung cancer cases.
About 1,030 OC cancer deaths, or 25% of the total, are projected to come from lung cancer, according to the report. Breast cancer is projected to account for less than 8% of 2005’s total cancer deaths at 320.
The society also issued a report card on various aspects of cancer diagnosis and treatment. It showed cancer death rates in California declined 16% from 1988 to 2001, with rates declining among all major racial groups in the state.
On specific cancers, the society said the breast cancer mortality rate fell 24% since 1988 and the prostate cancer mortality rate dropped 28%.
Good Timing?
Kenneth Fisher, a Woodside-based money manager who writes a weekly stock market column for Forbes magazine, usually is ahead of the curve when it comes to timing. But he appears to have stumbled out of the gate in 2005.
Why, you ask? Because in this week’s edition, Fisher “re-entered” Ocular Sciences Inc. into his picks for 2005. Only one problem: Ocular is no longer an independent company as of earlier this month. It’s now part of Cooper Cos., the Lake Forest-based maker of contact lens and gynecological surgery products.
Fisher wrote that Ocular gained 39% in 2004, “But I think it can do better for a while. While it isn’t cheap at 35 times trailing earnings, its disposable contact lens business is really nifty and in my view underappreciated.”
What’s worse is the deal had been in the works for months amid a long Federal Trade Commission look at the combination.
Bits and Pieces:
Edwards Lifesciences Corp., Irvine, launched its ThermaFix tissue treatment process on its Carpentier-Edwards Perimount Magna replacement tissue heart valves. Edwards formally unveiled ThermaFix last week at the scientific meeting of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons in Tampa, Fla. I-Flow Corp., Lake Forest, said the Food and Drug Administration cleared a line extension of its On-Q Soaker catheter to deliver local anesthetic to surgical sites for pain relief. I-Flow said the catheter, which is 10 inches long, was designed for surgical patients with longer incisions … Dr. Bart Margoshes, medical director of Cigna Group Insurance, is set to speak on “Linking Health Care and Disability: How to Make it Work” at the Feb. 17 meeting of the Orange County Employee Benefit Council. The meeting runs from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the Beckman Center in Irvine. Information: (714) 573-8605 Fullerton Cardiovascular Medical Group is moving to larger space at 2240 N. Harbor Blvd. and plans to add electrophysiological medical services later this year.
