Mindfulness does not help men, the first study to look at the gender divide in meditation suggests.

Although recent research has shown that mindfulness meditation, the practice of directing attention to present sensations and feelings, can be beneficial, nobody has checked whether the results were the same for both sexes.

But when Brown University broke down results they found a clear difference for men and women. While practising significantly helped women overcome a downcast mood, it actually made men feel slightly worse than before they began.

"That was the surprising part,"said Dr Willoughby Britton, assistant professor of psychiatry and human behaviour and of behavioural and social sciences.

"I wouldn't be surprised if this is a widespread phenomenon that researchers hadn't bothered to investigate."