Men are from Mars, women are from Venus. This is the adage often said when describing the seemingly irreconcilable polarities between the two genders. But have you ever imagined a scenario where a male works with a female brain, and vice-versa? This scenario was tackled in the movie "What Women Want" starring Mel Gibson. But have you ever heard of it being a true-to-life drama?

Kiriana Cowansage is a 24-year-old graduate student, and she is known as the girl with a boy's brain. Huh? Say that again? That's right. And it's not some brain-transplant mishap. She is afflicted with Asperger's Syndrome (AS), or the condition that is on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum.

While those with this condition do turn out successful in many aspect of their lives, they tend to have obsessive interests. Kiriana, for example, was absorbed with working on a puzzle to the extent that she worked at it for 10 straight hours without ever pausing even for a small drink of water. That's how obsessed they can be.

Also, those with this condition have trouble reading people and connecting with them. They also can have faulty sensory processing systems that could cause them to feel disoriented in hectic or unfamiliar surroundings. Kiriana, in fact, often gets lost in her own neighborhood.

And although Kiriana would fit the AS profile nicely, what makes her case stand out is that AS is much more common in boys than girls, in a ratio of 20 to 25 per 10,000 children with it.

"It was like I had an alien complex," recalls Kiriana of her childhood years. "The result was that they treated me like an alien." Indeed, her conflicting attitude can be found by others are just plain weird. Last summer, in fact, she went several weeks without speaking to anyone, even those she knew.

"I feel most comfortable being alone. I don't feel lonely very often, and when I do, it's usually not a general feeling of loneliness as much as a wish to be with a certain person or people."

But apart from these attributes, what makes her brain "a boy's brain" is that while she is loyal to her family and friends, she is not exactly what you'd say vocal about her affections for anyone. And while she is interested in men, and would sometimes want to date, it is difficult for her to determine whether or not those that she meets are being flirtatious or just being polite. She doubts she could ever fall in love.

"While there are many people who certainly matter to me, I'm not sure I can qualitatively summarize whether or not that constitutes love."

Kiriana says she's forever had a need for rational understanding. Maybe it is through that way that she is able to keep control of herself. That is why it is not surprising that her obsession for tiny details helped her become a top science student, a gifted artist, a keen observer. But being born with AS, in much as it has helped her be successful, has also kept her from really blooming as an outgoing individual.

Then again, if it works for her. And besides, nobody really expected it for anyone to find it easy to be in the other gender's shoe. To read more about Kiriana, and to understand more about AS, just click on the Read link below.