Men's brains really are wired differently to women's

It is perhaps the one thing any arguing couple will agree on - men and women just aren't on the same wavelength.

And, at last, there is scientific proof to explain the perennial conflict.

Researchers have finally been able to show how the male and female brain are poles apart.

The study found that women devote more brain inches to decision-making, emotions and, perhaps surprisingly given their poor reputation for map-reading, to spatial navigation.

The male brain, however, appears to conform to stereotype, with a bigger emphasis on sex.

But the gender gap doesn't end there, with men and women using different methods to process pain and emotions.

Even differing appetites for illegal drugs have their roots in the architecture of the brain, the researchers found after measuring and comparing 45 brain regions in healthy men and women.

The research contradicts the long-held theory that the differences in the way the sexes think are caused by social pressure and upbringing, or the action of sex hormones.

New Scientist magazine reports: 'For the most part, the basic architecture of the brain, and its fundamental workings, were thought to be the same for both sexes.'

But it adds: 'Research is revealing that male and female brains are built from markedly different genetic blueprints, which create numerous anatomical differences.

'There are also differences in the circuitry that wires them up and the chemicals that transmit messages. All this is pointing towards the conclusion that there is not just one kind of human brain, but two.'

Research from the elite Harvard Medical School in the U.S. shows the relative sizes of many of the structures inside the female brain are different from those of males.

Parts of the frontal lobe, which houses decision-making and problem-solving, are proportionally larger in women. More space is also devoted to short-term memory and spatial navigation.

Research from the University of California found the sexes use different sides of the brain to process emotions, with men choosing the left and women the right.

Experiments have also flagged up differences in the brain circuits used to dampen pain, which could perhaps explain why men tend to find morphine more effective than women.

Even the finding that women tend to become addicted to cocaine more quickly than men could be due to differences in brain structure.

The gender gap has only just come to light because neuroscientists traditionally carried out their studies on male brains, be they animal or human, New Scientist said.

Pain researcher Jeff Mogil, of McGill University in Montreal, said: 'It's scandalous. Women are the most common pain sufferers, and yet our model for basic pain research is the male rat.

'Every year or two, we write a paper that says that something someone reported earlier is actually only true in males. We keep making people look bad. They are missing stuff completely.'

Cary Cooper, professor of psychology and health at Lancaster University, who specialises in gender divisions, said: 'Men and women are polar opposites but we knew that from the start.

'I think that the differences between the male and female brains actually helps them get along better. Imagine both sexes had the same personalities? It would be impossible for them to live together.'

He added: 'I'm more than happy to let a woman in my car to map-read.'