Louann Brizendine author photo
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Louann Brizendine

Born: December 30, 1952 – Hazard, Kentucky, United States

Louann Brizendine is a neuropsychiatrist and UCSF professor whose work centers on hormones, mood, and sex differences in the brain. She wrote The Female Brain and The Male Brain, and founded UCSF’s Women’s Mood and Hormone Clinic. ((https://profiles.ucsf.edu/louann.brizendine)) The Female Brain became a New York Times bestseller, selling nearly a million copies and reaching more than thirty languages. ((https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/18520/the-female-brain-by-louann-brizendine-md/?utm_source=openai))

Biography & Author's Journey

Louann Brizendine built her career at the intersection of neurobiology, psychiatry, and public-facing science writing. She studied neurobiology at UC Berkeley, earned her medical degree from Yale School of Medicine, and completed internship and residency training at Harvard Medical School before serving on the faculties of both Harvard and the University of California, San Francisco. After joining UCSF in 1988, she founded the Women’s Mood and Hormone Clinic in 1994, a turning point that gave her a long clinical view of how hormones, mood, sexuality, and behavior interact across the lifespan. That clinic-based perspective became the foundation of her later books: she wrote less as a detached theorist than as a physician trying to translate research and patient experience into language general readers could use. ((https://www.louannbrizendine.com/about))

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Quotes

quote
The key to better communication is understanding how the other person's brain works and how he or she views the world
-Q&A With Dr. Louann Brizendine
quote
In reality, the male brain is a lean mean problem-solving machine
-The Male Brain
quote
Biology is destiny unless you know what it’s doing to you
-Hormones play a key role in shaping our romantic and sexual relationships
quote
Sexual health is as important to women as it is to men
-Facing challenges and taking control
quote
Delineating these differences can enable women and men to take advantage of their strengths and understand their differences
-In The Female Brain, UCSF's Brizendine Describes How Women See the World

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Community Voices

"Louann Brizendine has done a great favor for every man who wants to understand the puzzling women in his life"

Daniel Goleman

"California neuropsychiatrist Louann Brizendine has made a reputation for pinpointing the science behind a woman’s bewildering feelings"

Newsweek

"Harvard neuropsychiatrist Louann Brizendine leads readers through the lifespan of a man's brain using lively prose"

Publishers Weekly

"Louann Brizendine has been a pioneer in using medical science to empower her women patients"

Sarah Blaffer Hrdy

"Louann Brizendine explores the physical bases for sex differences in her new book"

ELLE

"Louann Brizendine has done us a service by explaining the neuroscience that underpins all this"

The Guardian

"Scientists like UC San Francisco neuropsychiatrist Louann Brizendine looked at how hormones affect brain function in a woman’s life"

Los Angeles Times

"Louann Brizendine's book is distinguished by her direct experience as a neuropsychiatrist"

The Washington Post

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