Facebook Twitter Email
NOVEMBER 29, 2000

Talk to women and many will tell you they are sure of one difference between the sexes: Men don't listen.

A new study conducted at the Indiana University School of Medicine seems to confirm at least part of that belief. Researchers there say men only use one side of their brain to listen, while women use both.

A total of 20 men and 20 women underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) test while listening to passage from "The Partner," a John Grisham novel. Subject matter aside, a majority of men showed activity only on the left side of the brain.

The left side of the brain is typically associated with activities such as listening and speech. The majority of women showed activity predominantly in this side, but also on the right, which is usually associated with visualization and non-auditory functions.

However, the study's architects caution that the differences they found don't mean women listen better than men.

"Our research suggests language processing is different between men and women, but it doesn't necessarily mean performance is going to be different," said Dr. Joseph T. Lurito. Lurito is an assistant professor of radiology at the university's medical school.

The researchers instead say their findings might help understand how men and women recover from strokes and brain tumors. They also say brain surgeons might tailor operations based on gender and that medical technologies such as fMRIs or PET (positron emission tomography) scans might be improved taking gender into account.

So for now, women who want men to use both sides of their brain might want to show the men in their lives a video of a Grisham novel instead.

Relevant Links:
BrainWaves Center - www.mentalmuscles.com

	The Partner By John Grisham. Amazon.Com US$21.56
	The Client (1994) Starring Susan Sarandon, Tommy Lee Jones Amazon.Com US$13.99