Science Says "YES"!
Men are frequently accused of forgetting birthdays, wedding anniversaries, and even something as simple as taking the trash out.
Numerous studies dedicated to comparing the memory abilities of men and women, consistently prove that men are more forgetful than women.
One 2015 study in a journal of psychology hypothesizes that this could be due to the varying brain structures of men and women—specifically, that the hippocampus (the part of the brain associated with memory) begins to decrease in volume faster in men than in women.
The research team, led by Prof. Jostein Holmen of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, published the study findings in the journal BMC Psychology.
To reach their conclusion, the investigators analyzed 37,405 men and women aged 30 years and older who were a part of a longitudinal population health study in Norway, called Hunt3.
The study participants were asked nine questions about their memory. These included questions regarding whether their memory has changed since they were younger, and whether they have problems remembering dates or what events happened a few days or years ago.
The results revealed that approximately half of the participants reported memory problems. Of these, 1.2% were women, while 1.6% were men. For eight out of nine questions, men reported the most problems.
Overall, the researchers found that memory problems increased with age. But in all age groups, men reported more memory problems than women.
Furthermore, the investigators were surprised to find that younger men forget just as much as older men.
Commenting on the findings, Prof. Holmen says:
“It was surprising to see that men forget more than women. This has not been documented before. It was also surprising to see that men are just as forgetful whether they are 30 or 60 years old. The results were unambiguous.”
The researchers hypothesize that gender differences in memory may be down to a number of reasons.
For example, they may be linked to risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as high blood pressure or being overweight.
These risk factors, which are more prevalent in men, may trigger forms of nerves in the brain breaking down – explaining why men have more memory problems than women.