If you’ve ever ended a conversation with the opposite sex wondering, “What were they thinking?” now science has an answer for you. Supporting the years –long debate that men and women think differently, is a new study that found real differences in ways the male/female brains are wired. Using MRI brain scans, scientists determined that for women, the fiber pathways that route information around the brain tend to repeatedly zig-zag across both hemispheres of the brain. In normal thought, these highways for information hop back and forth between the left, “logical” side of the brain and the right, “creative” side of the brain. When examining the aggregate scans for men, the fiber pathways tended to run up and down the same hemisphere more, rather than jumping back and forth.

While researchers don’t yet understand how this may impact behavior differences, they believe that men may over-engage one part of the brain, assessing situations very logically, while women may be more able to connecting logical and emotional dots. For example, a man might take action to resolve a situation, while a woman could resolve the situation, and come to the realization that the reason the task isn’t complete originally is because Susan was having a bad day. Additionally, this research supports previous research that indicates women are better at multitasking. So next time you find yourself perplexed with your significant other, take a minute to have a breather – they may just be thinking about things differently than you.