3 Things Every Man Should Know about a Woman

She changes every day based on her cycle

Affecting up to 80 percent of women, PMS is a familiar scapegoat. But women are affected by their cycles every day of the month. Hormone levels are constantly changing in a woman's brain and body, changing her outlook, energy and sensitivity along with them.

About 10 days after the onset of menstruation, right before ovulation, women often feel sassier, Brizendine told LiveScience. Unconsciously, they dress sexier as surges in estrogen and testosterone prompt them to look for sexsual oppotunities  during this particularly fertile period.

A week later, there is a rise in progesterone, the hormone that mimics valium, making women "feel like cuddling up with a hot cup of tea and a good book," Brizendine said. The following week, progesterone withdrawal can make women weepy and easily irritated. "We call it crying over dog commercials crying," Brizendine said.

She really is intuitive (though not magic)

Men can have the uncomfortable feeling that women are mind readers or psychics, Brizendine said. But women's Intuition intuition is likely more biological than mystical.

Over the course of evolution, women may have been selected for their ability to keep young preverbal humans alive, which involves deducing what an infant or child needs — warmth, food, discipline &mdash without it being directly communicated. This is one explanation for why women consistently score higher than men on tests that require reading nonverbal cues. Women not only better remember the physical appearances of others but also more correctly identify theUnspoken messages conveyed in facial expressions, postures and tones of voice, studies show.

This skill, however, is not limited to childrearing. Women often use it tell what bosses, husbands and even strangers are thinking and planning. C(lueless Guys can't Read women) 

She responds to pain and anxiety differently

Brain-imaging studies over the last 10 years have shown that male and female brains respond differently to pain

 and fear. And, women's brains may be the more sensitive of the two.

The female brain is not only more responsive to small amounts of stress but is less able to habituate to high levels of stress, said Debra Bangasser of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, describing her recent research looking at molecular changes in the brain. Bangasser's research was conducted in rats but is considered potentially applicable to humans.

Stress sensitivity may have some benefits; it shifts one's mental state from being narrowly focused to being more flexibly and openly aware. But if the anxiety is prolonged, it can be damaging. Such findings may help explain why Women are more prone to depression , post-traumatic stress disorder and other anxiety disorders, the researchers told LiveScience.

The research was published in the June 2010 issue of Molecular Psychiatry.

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what a woman needs to know about a man