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It's a standing joke among many men... that women have smaller brains. Now research seems to indicate that while this may be true, it doesn�t matter because women use their brains more efficiently. A woman�s works more efficiently than the man�s by using less energy and fewer brain cells to achieve the same, or even better results. It could be because while men have more of the bundles of brain cells essential for reasoning - neurons - the women have more connections between theirs, enabling quicker thinking despite having less grey matter. The new research, carried out by University of California neuroscientists assisted by colleagues in Madrid, set out to question why women, with brains typically 8 per cent small than those of men, were of equal intelligence. It focused on the section of the brain known as the hippocampus - vital for a useful memory and emotions. In men, the larger the hippocampus, and the more neurons, the higher the intelligence. But the researchers found that in women, a larger hippocampus, typically of course smaller than men�s, was no indication of greater intelligence - and even suggested that the smaller the hippocampus, the better. The scientists carried out psychological tests on 59 women and 45 men aged from 18 to 27. In line with previous studies they found the women were better at inductive reasoning and tracking a changing situation, while the men showed greater prowess at spatial reasoning.