So THAT’S your excuse, eh?

Posted by: ST on August 9, 2005 at 3:45 pm

Via Brian at Iowa Voice, I read this piece – which I found slightly amewsing.  And here I thought it was more of a case of ’selective hearing’ …  :)

LONDON (AFP) – Men who are accused of never listening by women now have an excuse — women’s voices are more difficult for men to listen to than other men’s, a report said.

The Daily Mail, quoting findings published in the specialist magazine

NeuroImage, said researchers at Sheffield university in northern England discovered startling differences in the way the brain responds to male and female sounds.

Men deciphered female voices using the auditory part of the brain that processes music, while male voices engaged a simpler mechanism, it said.

The Mail quoted researcher Michael Hunter as 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."

The findings may help explain why people suffering hallucinations usually hear male voices, the report added, as the brain may find it much harder to conjure up a false female voice accurately than a false male voice.

NOW I get it! emoticon 

Semi-related update: Ambra Nykol posts The Nykola.com Men’s Guide for How to Never Ever (Ever) Get a Woman (make sure to scroll down to read it all ).  And if ya’ll want to discuss the complexity of the male (or female!) mind and/or the complexity of relationships here, please feel free emoticon

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8 Responses to “So THAT’S your excuse, eh?”

Comments

  1. ArizonaTeach says:

    That’s a lot of work and research to reach the rather obvious conclusion that men don’t listen to women. I mean, you know, duh.

  2. Sloan says:

    Hold on there, Teach…let’s look at this more closely:

    Men deciphered female voices using the auditory part of the brain that processes music, while male voices engaged a simpler mechanism, it said.

    See, it’s not that we don’t listen. It’s just that, when a woman speaks, it’s music to our ears.

    Smooth, eh? :wink:

    I dunno if my wife or ST are gonna buy it, but doggonit, you can’t argue with science!

  3. ArizonaTeach: *grin* True! How often is it we hear of some ‘study’ conducted that really didn’t need to be conducted in the first place. I mean, some things you just already know :lol:

    Sloan: Oh yes, of COURSE I buy it! By the way, did I tell you I’m really Queen Elizabeth? :cool:

    Bak: And just what are you grinning about, mister? ;)

  4. - Does this mean we can finally stop worrying about the position of toilet seats? …. (Chap. 2 of “How to never Ever…)

  5. David Foster says:

    This doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Do men not listen to music?

  6. I’m still trying to make heads or tails of it myself … of course we knew the conclusion before this ‘study’ was even undertaken, though :lol: