Find out your brainsex

A neuropsychologist who writes about male and female-oriented brains is at the front line of the struggle to try and make the boys in Britain's schools enthusiastic about learning.

Dr Ann Moir has applied her knowledge of gender differences to the classroom and devised a series of radical - some say controversial - tactics that have resulted in schools encouraging and teaching boys to “play-fight”.

Body sex does not necessarily match brain sex so Dr Moir has devised a test to determine the gender of the brain.

Answer yes or no depending on whether you agree or not with the following statements:

1 It's easy for me to sing in tune, singing alone

2 When I was younger, winning was really important to me

3 It's easy for me to hear what people are saying in a crowded room

4 As a child I enjoyed going as high as possible when climbing trees

5 If someone interrupts what I am doing it's difficult to go back to it

6 I find it easy to do more than one thing at once

7 I find it easy to know what someone is feeling just by looking at their face

8 I like to collect things and sort them into categories

9 I solve problems more often with intuition than logic

10 As a child, I loved playing games where I pretended to be someone I knew or a character I had created

11 At school it was easy for me to write neatly

12 As a child, I enjoyed taking things apart to see how they work

13 I get bored easily so I need to keep doing new things

14 I don't like fast speeds, they make me nervous

15 I enjoy reading novels more then non-fiction.

16 I can find my way more easily using a map rather than landmark directions

17 I keep in regular contact with my friends and family

18 As a child, I enjoyed physical sports

19 Imagining things in three dimensions is easy for me. For example: I can see in my mind's eye just how an architects' drawings or plans will look once built

20 As a child, I loved doing things like 'wheelies' on my bike

Now work out your score and turn over to see how ‘male’ or ‘female’ your brain is:

If you answered ‘Yes’ to questions: 1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 17 score 1 point each.

(‘No’ answers to these questions receive 0 points.)

If you answered ‘No’ to questions: 2, 4, 5, 8, 12, 13, 16, 18, 19, 20 score 1 point each.

(‘Yes’ answers to these questions receive 0 points.)

How to work out how ‘male’ or ‘female’ your brain is

• The higher your score out of twenty, the more female your brain.

• Middle scores show a more mixed brain.

• The lower the score out of twenty, the more male your brain.

Very Male Very Female

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

To take part in the brainsex survey go to http://www.brainsexmatters.com/

Other indicators of brainsex:

Hands are a further marker for brain organisation. Combining the questionnaire results together with the following finger pattern result may give you a clearer picture of your brain organisation.

Which hand pattern most fits yours?

A large number of studies show that comparative finger length matches brain organisation.

The key digits, counting from your thumb, are the 2nd and 4th digits (your index and ring fingers respectively). When looking at your own hands, you should view them with the palms towards you and measure from the crease at the base of your finger.

• A typical male brain correlates with:

The index finger (2nd digit) is shorter than the ring finger (4th digit).

• A typical female brain correlates with:

The index and ring fingers are the same length; occasionally the index finger is longer than the ring finger.

Sometimes, however, one hand is the male pattern and the other the female pattern – this requires further research as to the significance for brain organisation.

Background to Brainsex Test

The questions are based on a very large number of sex differences found in the research. Body sex does not necessarily match brain sex. In my experience many of us have mixed brain – we fall on a continuum.

There are a large number of studies that show relative digit length correlate with many male/female patterns of behaviour.