Listen Up Now

It’s official – women do listen more than men, and men really do listen with just half their brains.
In study of 20 men and 20 women at Indiana University, brain scans showed that men listen with the left side of their brain while women use both sides.
Participants wore headphones inside an MRI scanner and listened to taped excerpts from John Grisham novel, as researchers watched blood-flow images of their brains on video screen.
As they listened, men showed an increased blood flow in their left temporal lobe, while women showed activity in both temporal lobes.
Previous studies have suggested that women can listen to two conversations at once, and one of the reasons may be that they may have more brain devoted to the process.
Of course, it could also be said that listening is harder for women because they need to use more of their brains than men, to do the same task.
Aside from provoking battle of the sexes on the meaning of this activity, researchers say that by understanding how brains differ, they might be able to help treat strokes.