What women have suspected about men for years is true – guys really do listen with only half their brains.
Scientists tested 20 men and 20 women and found men listened mostly with the left sides of their brains, the area that understands language, while women used both sides.
In their study, the researchers looked at blood flow to various parts of the brain while participants listened to taped excerpts from John Grisham’s novel “The Partner.”
Using an MRI brain-scan machine, they found that listening resulted in increased blood flow in the left temporal lobes of the men’s brains.
In women, both temporal lobes showed activity.
The findings tend to support previous suggestions that women’s brains are “either more bilaterally dominant” or more right-side dominant in doing certain tasks than men’s brains.
Dr. Edgar Kenton said the study, conducted at the Indiana University School of Medicine, could help doctors treating stroke victims better understand how men’s and women’s brains differ.
It suggests that in a stroke affecting the brain’s left side, women might recover language ability more quickly than men, though that remains to be proven.
The report, released at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, concluded that the differences do not mean that “performance [in hearing what is being said] is going to be different.”
“We don’t know if the difference is because of the way we’re raised or it’s hard-wired in the brain,” said Joseph Lurito, an assistant professor of radiology at the school.
Lurito added that other studies suggest women “can handle listening to two conversations at once.”
“One of the reasons may be that they have more brain devoted to it,” he said.