"The brain is a mysterious thing, but a woman's brain seems to be far more mysterious than we ever knew.
According to a
new study, women absorb and retain the DNA of every man they have ever had sex with.
The information was stumbled upon complete by accident by the scientists but explains a lot as to why women become more connected to men then men are to women.
They were originally trying to determine if women who have been pregnant with a son might be more predisposed to certain neurological diseases that occur more frequently in males.
But the study veered off course and they learned something else about the female brain.
The study found that female brains often harbor "male microchimerism," or more simply the presence of male DNA that originated from another individual.
This presence is genetically distinct from the cells that make up the rest of the woman.
According to the study: "63% of the females (37 of 59) tested harbored male microchimerism in the brain. Male microchimerism was present in multiple brain regions."
This means 63% of women involved in the study carry male DNA cells that live in their brains. The researchers then wanted to discover where the male DNA came from.
As most people know, a man's DNA mixes with a women's DNA during pregnancy to create a child - but this DNA doesn't come from your father.
This was the scientists first idea, then they assumed that the male DNA present in women came from carrying a son in pregnancy.
However, many of the women involved in the study said they were never even pregnant.
In their research, they hide the possibility that the presence of male DNA in women comes from sex:
"CONCLUSIONS: Male microchimerism was not infrequent in women without sons. Besides known pregnancies, other possible sources of male microchimerism include unrecognized spontaneous abortion, vanished male twin, an older brother transferred by the maternal circulation, or
sexual intercourse.
"Male microchimerism was significantly more frequent and levels were higher in women with induced abortion than in women with other pregnancy histories. Further studies are needed to determine specific origins of male microchimerism in women."
So according to the scientists, the possible sources of the male DNA cells living in the women’s brains are:
- an abortion the woman didn't know about
- a male twin that vanished
- an older brother transferred by the maternal circulation
- sexual intercourse
The percentage of women with male DNA in them is quite high at 63%, and with so many women saying they have never been pregnant, there is one possible source that sticks out - sexual intercourse.
It's fascinating research because this explains why women might become more attached in a relationship with a man, why we become closer after having sex with a man and why our habits might change."