They're Not Really Ignoring Us
Men have long been accused of not listening to the women in their lives and now they have a scientific excuse for it: women's voices are more difficult for men to listen to than other men's, researchers say.
According to London's Daily Mail, researchers at the University of Sheffield tracked activity in the brains of 12 men while playing recordings of different voices.
There were startling differences in the way the brain responded to male and female sounds.
Men deciphered female voices using the auditory part of the brain that processes music.
Male voices engaged a simpler mechanism at the back of the brain.
Researcher Dr. Michael Hunter said: "The female voice is actually more complex than the male voice, due to differences in the size and shape of the vocal cords and larynx between men and women, and also due to women having greater natural 'melody' in their voices. This causes a more complex range of sound frequencies than in a male voice."
The findings, published in the journal NeuroImage, may help explain why people suffering hallucinations usually hear male voices, say the scientists.
Men have long been accused of not listening to the women in their lives and now they have a scientific excuse for it: women's voices are more difficult for men to listen to than other men's, researchers say.
According to London's Daily Mail, researchers at the University of Sheffield tracked activity in the brains of 12 men while playing recordings of different voices.
There were startling differences in the way the brain responded to male and female sounds.
Men deciphered female voices using the auditory part of the brain that processes music.
Male voices engaged a simpler mechanism at the back of the brain.
Researcher Dr. Michael Hunter said: "The female voice is actually more complex than the male voice, due to differences in the size and shape of the vocal cords and larynx between men and women, and also due to women having greater natural 'melody' in their voices. This causes a more complex range of sound frequencies than in a male voice."
The findings, published in the journal NeuroImage, may help explain why people suffering hallucinations usually hear male voices, say the scientists.
