Ladies, have you ever wondered why a man sometimes doesn’t seem to hear or understand what you said?

Ladies, have you ever wondered why a man sometimes doesn’t seem to hear or understand what you said?

A study at the University of Sheffield and published in the journal NeuroImage may provide the answer.

These researchers found differences in the way male and female brains process voice sounds. The results of this study demonstrate that, in the male brain, the perception of male and female voices activates different brain regions.

The guys could easily hear and understand other men’s voices. However, women have a greater natural melody in their voices and possess a more complex range of sound frequencies than a male voice.

The men in the study had a harder time deciphering them and really hearing what a woman was saying. When they heard the female voices, they had to decipher them using the part of the brain that processes music — a more complex process than is used in the part of the brain that analyzes a male voice.

This process may worsen as we age. Or we may lose some of our hearing for other reasons.

Also, Dr Michael Hunter, co-author of the study, noted that voices allow the brain to determine various factors about a person’s appearance, including sex, size and age.

It is much more complex than most people think and is an extremely important tool for determining someone’s identity without having to see them.

So, when listening to a woman’s voice, a man must make an extra effort subconsciously or consciously, to concentrate on what he is hearing. If he can’t (or won’t), then I guess he has an excuse for selective hearing.

Dr. Paul H. Deutsch is board certified in internal medicine and a member of The William W. Backus Hospital medical staff. E-mail Deutsch at healthyliving@wwbh.org