Have You Ever Wondered Why Male And Female Voices Differ?

Certain things in life are just taken for granted. But it turns out to be highly fascinating or surprising when explanations to such things are projected

Certain things in life are just taken for granted. But it turns out to be highly fascinating or surprising when explanations to such things are projected. One such explanation is regarding the difference between a male and female voice.

An analysis of the brain scans of 12 male subjects and a parallel evaluation of male and female voices found startling differences in the way the brain interprets the two sounds, with female voices causing activity in the auditory section of the brain and the male voice sparking activity in the "mind's eye" at the back of the brain.

"Voices allow the brain to determine various factors about a person's appearance, including their sex, size and age. It is much more complex than most people think and is an extremely important tool for determining someone's identity without having to see them," said a Scientist involved in the study.

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 women and men 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.

In addition, it was found that people who hear hallucinatory voices usually hear male voices.

Psychiatrists believe that these auditory hallucinations are caused when the brain spontaneously activates, creating a false perception of a voice.

The reason these voices are usually male could be explained by the fact that the female voice is so much more complex that the brain would find it much harder to create a false female voice accurately than a false male voice.

The study could also explain why female voices are considered to be clearer then male voices. This could be linked to the fact that female voices are interpreted in the auditory part of the brain and are therefore more easily decoded.

Source: Indo-Asian News Service