Scientists Explain Why Women Talk More Than Men

Most men are well aware of the fact that women can be quite chatty, yet up until recently, the scientific community was unable to provide a satisfactory explanation for why it is that women have a rather difficult time keeping quiet.

However, a team of researchers working with the University of Maryland now claim that, according to their studies, women use more words than men not because they choose to do so, but because they cannot help doing otherwise.

Thus, it seems that, when compared to the male brain, the female brain is drenched in higher concentrations of a protein known as Foxp2.

Seeing how this particular protein is considered to be the main culprit behind the urge to utter as many words as possible, it need not come as a surprise that these specialists are now busy arguing that the chemical make-up of women's brains is what makes them so talkative.

As Daily Mail reports, the researchers behind this theory concerning the Foxp2 protein and its ability to influence speech patterns base their statements on the findings of several experiments carried out on rats.

More precisely, it is being said that male rats also have higher levels of Foxp2 protein in their brain, hence their being more “talkative” than females.

By the looks of it, the researchers' assumptions are confirmed by their analysis of samples collected from ten boys and girls aged 3-5.

“Based on our observations, we postulate higher levels of Foxp2 in girls and higher levels of Foxp2 in male rats is an indication that Foxp2 protein levels are associated with the more communicative sex,” researcher Margaret McCarthy told members of the press.

Because it can influence the number of words individuals utter on a daily basis, the Foxp2 protein has been dubbed the language protein.

Just for the record, it seems that, when compared to men, women utter an additional 13,000 per day. All in all, they speak around 20,000 words on a daily basis.