Men found it twice as hard to guess a woman’s mood than a man’s after being shown pictures of people’s eyes and estimating how they were feeling, researchers found.

研究人员让男性通过看照片中人的眼神来猜测他们的心思，结果发现，男性觉得猜女性的心思要比男性的难猜得多。

However, the study showed that it is not because of men’s lack of trying - the male volunteers were given brain scans while they looked at the pictures, and the data suggested an unusual reason for the difficulty in reading women’s feelings.

而且研究表明，之所以会这样并不是因为男人懒得去猜——通过对男性志愿者看照片时的大脑扫描发现，男性确实很难猜透女性的心思。

When looking at male eyes, men related what they saw to themselves, with the parts of their brains linked to past thoughts and feelings lighting up, the Daily Mail reported.

据《每日邮报》报道，志愿者在看男性的眼睛时，往往会联想到自己，大脑中相关过去的想法与情绪会随之调动起来。

The study suggested that they understood what other men felt by remembering similar moments in their own lives, and then used them to evaluate the image, the researchers said.

研究人员说，研究显示，通过联想自己类似的生活经历，男性能够理解同性的感受，并对照片中的人作出猜测。

But when they looked at female eyes, the men were baffled, as their brains searched for memories of when they had seen another woman who looked similar to the image, and meant men found it harder to empathise with women’s feelings.

但当他们看女性的眼神时，却变得摸不着头脑，大脑不断搜寻自己看过的其他类似女性神情，自然，这样男性就很难在情绪上跟女性产生共鸣。

The scientists found that the amygdala, a part of the brain believed to be important for empathy with others, showed more activity when men looked at a man, rather than a woman.

科学家还发现，人脑中的杏仁体对情感共鸣起着重要作用。因此，当男性观察男性时，这部分会很活跃；如果是观察女性则不会。

The researchers, from the LWL University Hospital in Bochum, western Germany, said the male ability to decipher a woman's thoughts from her expression relates to earlier periods of history when being able to tell what another man was thinking – and whether he posed a threat – was much more important.

在德国波鸿市的LWL大学医院，研究人员发现，男性从表情揣摩女性心思的能力较差也和早期历史有关，对于那时候的男性们来说，能够猜到同性的想法进而判断他是否构成威胁，是更为重要的生存能力。

Commenting on the results of the study, published in journal PLoS ONE, the researchers said: “As men were more involved in hunting and territory fights, it would have been important for them to be able to predict and foresee the intentions and actions of their male rivals.”

研究人员说道：“因为男性更多从事狩猎和领土争夺 ，因此对他们而言，猜测并预计男性对手的动机和行动就显得非常重要。” 此项调查的结果已经发表在了《PLoS ONE》期刊上。