Playboys are better at processing distant targets, while women are better at short-range focusing, scientists have discovered, which could go some way to explaining why both see things differently.

Research published in the British Journal of Psychology claims that the findings show the way men and women's brains have evolved over thousands of years for different hunter-gatherer roles.

Hunters, who were traditionally men, had to be able to spot targets from a distance, while ladies had to be good at scouring the immediate area to find fruit, nuts and berries.

Psychologist Helen Stancey, from Hammersmith and West London College, said: "Evidence already exists that separate pathways in the brain process visual information from near and far space. Our results suggested that the near pathway is favoured in women and the far pathway is favoured in men."

In other relationship news, research by the Australian National University recently found that past relationships, smoking and other factors all have a bearing on how successful a marriage is.

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