Why men find it harder than women to read a person's emotions

Psychiatrists have concluded that males take longer to assess facial expressions as their brains have to work twice as hard to work out whether another person looks friendly or intelligent.

Researchers from Edinburgh University said that it confirmed the "old folk wisdom" about the abilities of both sexes to "empathise, emote and process social stimuli".

“Our findings suggest that men have developed strategies to cope with their lesser natural empathy by over-activating the parts of the brain that understand social cues,” said Prof Stephen Lawrie, who led the study.

“As this pattern is also seen in people with autism-linked conditions, it suggests we could devise new tools to help patients learn social rules and enhance their skills for engaging with other people.”

Researchers used brain scans to study an individual's reaction while several expressive faces were flashed before them.