Men who are accused of never listening by women now have an excuse - women's voices are more difficult for men to listen to than other men's.
Researchers at the University of Sheffield tracked activity in the brains of 12 men while playing recordings of different voices.
There were startling differences in the way the brain responded to male and female sounds.
Men deciphered female voices using the auditory part of the brain that processes music.
Male voices engaged a simpler mechanism at the back of the brain.
Researcher Dr Michael Hunter said today: "The female voice is actually more complex than the male voice, due to differences in the size and shape of the vocal cords and larynx between men and women, and also due to women having greater natural 'melody' in their voices. This causes a more complex range of sound frequencies than in a male voice.
"When a man hears a female voice the auditory section of his brain is activated, which analyses the different sounds in order to 'read' the voice and determine the auditory face.
"When men hear a male voice the part of the brain that processes the information is towards the back of the brain and is colloquially known as the 'mind's eye'. This is the part of the brain where people compare their experiences to themselves, so the man is comparing his own voice to the new voice to determine gender."
The findings, published in the journal NeuroImage, may help explain why people suffering hallucinations usually hear male voices, say the scientists.
It could be that the brain finds it much harder to conjure up a false female voice accurately than a false male voice.
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