| Submit your comments on this article |
| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Male brains 'not wired' to listen to women |
| 2005-08-06 |
| Hat tip Fjordman. Scientists have found that women`s voices are more difficult for men to listen to than men`s. 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 today: "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. "When a man hears a female voice the auditory section of his brain is activated, which analyses the different sounds in order to `read` the voice and determine the auditory face. "When men hear a male voice the part of the brain that processes the information is towards the back of the brain and is colloquially known as the `mind`s eye`. This is the part of the brain where people compare their experiences to themselves, so the man is comparing his own voice to the new voice to determine gender." The findings, published in the journal NeuroImage, may help explain why people suffering hallucinations usually hear male voices, say the scientists. It could be that the brain finds it much harder to conjure up a false female voice accurately than a false male voice. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #19 So, think Manny can keep it together after his collision, or are the Red Sox about to start their traditional fade ? |
| Posted by: Carl in N.H. 2005-08-06 21:09 |
| #18 For centuries Chinese women in the western areas (not ethnic Han) communicated with one another via embroidery motifs. If a woman wanted to warn a sister, for instance, she'd encode the information in a piece of embroidered clothing which the men of the clan obliviously allowed to be passed along. In fact, there were whole tribal customs about gift-giving and ritual observances which the old women zealously guarded precisely because they were a cover for this info passing. |
| Posted by: practical gal 2005-08-06 20:20 |
| #17 My former spouse was foreign born. Her immediate group was mainly composed of women of similar national origins. One day while she was sitting for one of the gang's children, I spoke with her in her native language. Later the four year old boy of the pair approached me and asked where I learned womantalk. Kid thought it was a special language only to women. How much he had yet to learn. |
| Posted by: Slock Phavilet4871 2005-08-06 20:12 |
| #16 Darn it, stop talking about sports! You'll blow our cover. We're trying to impress the chyx by pretending to listen! |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2005-08-06 20:08 |
| #15 So do you think the NHL can stage a comeback? Or is it taps for the ice boyz? |
| Posted by: Yaseen Wattoo 2005-08-06 20:03 |
| #14 I have read that people who learn their first foreign language as an adult use the part of the brain related to music; while people who learn foreign languages as children expand the original language part of the brain even if they are learning a new foreign language as an adult. Since most guys consider wymenspeak as a foreign language, this does make some sense … |
| Posted by: Adriane 2005-08-06 19:19 |
| #13 Actually, I've read (or heard in an interview or something) something else on the subject from the "Men Mars/Women Venus" guy, wosshisname... he said something to the effect that at the end of a long day of typical work a woman's brain is typically relatively lower in serotonin while a man's brain is typically lower in dopamine. Allegedly this meant that while the woman might be in a bad mood, she still has the energy to talk, while the guy just wants to sit and veg (or absorb some non-interactive predictable information, like a football game.... or maybe today weblogs would be a better example). I don't know how true any of that is. |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2005-08-06 15:24 |
| #12 This fits my experience. One danger of employing the usual technique of nodding your head and saying "mmm-hmmm...yesdear" while her voice continues on is that you could find out later you have agreed to any number of things you wouldn't normally agree to. Happens all the time in my house. |
| Posted by: Carl in N.H. 2005-08-06 13:42 |
| #11 No, no, no .... you guys are missing the practical application of this research. Men pay attention to WORDS with an area at the back of their brains. They typically pay attention, sort of, to women's voices elsewhere. Solution? Whap your guy upside the back of his head before saying anything you need him to actually pay attention to. |
| Posted by: practical gal 2005-08-06 12:23 |
| #10 Sientific Art of listening, 1) men listen men to hear what they saying. 2) men listen women to hear... "When men hear a male voice the part of the brain that processes the information is towards the back of the brain and is colloquially known as the `mind`s eye`. This is the part of the brain where people compare their experiences to themselves, so the man is comparing his own voice to the new voice to determine gender." ok, sounds plausible enough. men listen to men to hear what they're saying. "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. men do listen to new desirable women with a less complex, basic motive filter> How do I get some...which makes it more difficult to remember what she's sayen when you're only pretending. /sure .#3 LOL!..I'm gonna apply for a grant. |
| Posted by: bad hound 2005-08-06 11:30 |
| #9 Gives a whole new meaning to Queer Eye For The Straight Guy. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-08-06 11:27 |
| #8 Who brought beer? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-08-06 11:27 |
| #7 A conclusion looking for research funds |
| Posted by: Captain America 2005-08-06 11:20 |
| #6 2b, You question is answered in the next paragraph. "When men hear a male voice the part of the brain that processes the information is towards the back of the brain and is colloquially known as the `mind`s eye`." Or some call it "one eyed response," if you know what I mean. |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2005-08-06 11:18 |
| #5 This study is nothing compared to the pork in the new Highway Bill. |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2005-08-06 11:14 |
| #4 Men deciphered female voices using the auditory part of the brain that processes music ahhhh, isn't that sweet! I wonder how gay men respond? |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-08-06 11:03 |
| #3 I love these things. My BS Meter twangs and prangs the peg on some aspect or other every time, lol. Particularly interesting in this one is that they're using 12 guys. Pretty small crowd. And they are volunteers. Who volunteers for medical studies? Heh. And they're likely from a small geographical area somewhere around Sheffield. Okay. How about 12 guys from Berkeley, or Hell's Kitchen, or a Cleveland Steel Mill, or a Montana cattle ranch, or Sunset Strip or Seattle, where the horses are men and the men are, well, they aren't... Anyone wonder if the results might be different? Lol. Great shit. Throw more money at it. The part about wymyn's voices being music, well, that might be universal, heh. But where do these dipsy doodles get off saying I don't listen to wymyns - I listen to music and wymyns... Both rock, in fact. I just don't listen to wank-o-matic "researchers". This is a pretty fucking stupid buncha wankers, methinks. No offense intended, of course, heh. Funny post, A5089 - thx! |
| Posted by: .com 2005-08-06 10:37 |
| #2 Mmmmm. Hmmmm. That's nice, dear. [reading paper] |
| Posted by: Jackal 2005-08-06 10:15 |
| #1 What? |
| Posted by: Raj 2005-08-06 10:12 |