Why men do not respond to the sound of crying babies but women cannot ignore them



American study shows that men's brains are not designed to respond to the sounds of a baby crying

However both men and women react to cries of autistic babies because they are higher pitched



A new study has discovered that women’s brains are hard-wired to respond to a baby’s cry, while men do not seem to react at all.



Research, carried out by National Institute of Child Health in the U.S., asked 18 men and women to let their minds wander.



During this time the scientists conducted brain scans.

Oblivious: Brain scans have shown that men's brains do not react in the same way as women to the sound of a distressed baby

The researchers then played a recording of white noise interspersed with short clips of a baby crying.

The scans showed that while women immediately became more alert after hearing a baby’s cry, the brains of men remained in a resting state.



Specifically, the dorsal medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate areas, known to be involved when the mind is allowed to wander, were recorded by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and later studied for results.

'Determining whether these responses differ between men and women, by age, and by parental status, helps us understand instincts for caring for the very young,’ study co-author Marc Bornsteinfrom the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development told Medical Daily .

Although brain activity patterns differed between men and women, there was no difference in the brain patterns between parents and non-parents.



The researchers also played the cries of infants who were later diagnosed with autism.



Interestingly, the study found that both men and women reacted to autistic babies. Previous studies have shown that babies with the condition have higher-pitched cries

Interestingly, hearing these cries interrupted the mind wandering of both men and women.



A previous study has shown that the screams of infants who develop autism tend to be higher pitched than those of other babies and that the pauses between cries are shorter.

It has been long known that women's bodies react to the sound of babies after pregnancy.



Soon after birth, a woman's 'letdown reflex' — the reflex that releases the milk produced by breasts — needs time to adjust to the sensation of feeding.

