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Surprising Science

Men & Women React Differently to Pain

While women feel pain more intensely than men, they are better at coping with it emotionally, according to a study in London. Men, on the other hand, feel less pain, but are more afraid of it.

How do men and women process feelings of pain? “A study using MRI brain scanners found women process pain in the brain differently to men. Doctors were investigating gender differences in how the sexes respond to the pain of chronic conditions such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome which affects more women than men. But the findings also shed light on the age-old debate about the sensitivity of the sexes. A research team from London and Japan led by Professor Qasim Aziz, of the Wingate Institute for Neurogastroenterology, Queen Mary University of London, studied brain activity and reactions of 16 men and 16 women in the anticipation and processing of pain…”


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