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, a report said.

The Daily Mail, quoting findings published in the specialist gazine NeuroI ge, said researchers at Sheffield university in northern England discovered startling differences in the way the brain responds to le and fe le sounds.

Men deciphered fe le voices using the auditory part of the brain that processes music, while le voices engaged a r mechani , it said.

The Mail quoted researcher Michael Hunter as saying, "The fe le voice is actually more complex than the le 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 le voice."

The findings y help explain why people suffering hallucinations usually hear le voices, the report added, as the brain y find it much harder to conjure up a false fe le voice accurately than a false le voice.