Men, Women Do See Things Differently: Study

Males seem better with fine detail, rapidly moving images; females seem better differentiating colors.

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 5 (HealthDay News) -- New research finds the brains of men and women process what they see differently.

Men are more sensitive to fine detail and things that move rapidly, but women are better at differentiating between colors.

The study authors, researchers from Brooklyn College and Hunter College of the City University of New York, reached their conclusions after looking at volunteers over the age of 16. All had to have normal color vision and 20/20 vision, either natural or corrected.

When the participants looked at colors across the spectrum, the researchers found that the men needed a slightly longer wavelength to detect the same hue as the women. They also had more trouble discriminating between colors in the center of the spectrum.

Men were better able to resolve images that changed rapidly.

The study was published Sept. 3 in the journal Biology of Sex Differences.

"As with other senses, such as hearing and the olfactory system, there are marked sex differences in vision between men and women," study leader Professor Israel Abramov said in a journal news release.

Testosterone, the male sex hormone, may play a role in these differences, the researchers added.

More information

For more about vision problems, see the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

(SOURCE: BioMed Central, news release, Sept. 3, 2012)

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