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Men can navigate and find their way better in order to reach their goals more accurately, according to a new study conducted by researchers from Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

The researchers chose 18 men and 18 women to solve some spatial tasks. They were given a maze using 3-D glasses. They gave them some time to get familiar with the layout, after which they were asked to solve 45 navigation tasks, in which just 30 seconds were given for each activity, reports HNGN.

Each person had to find a particular item or place in the maze beginning with various starting points. They used an MRI scanner to find out if there were differences in the brain activities of both genders.

Researchers found that the men could solve 50 percent more tasks than women.

The main difference was that men used "cardinal directions" while they tried to locate their spots. Hence, they would set out in the general direction of some place or item, while women kept specific routes in mind in order to reach their desired spots.

"Women usually orient themselves along a route to get there, for example, 'go past the hairdresser and then up the street and turn right after the store,'" Dr. Carl Pintzka, medical doctor and Ph.D candidate from the Department of Neuroscience at NTNU, said in a press release.

On the other hand, men reached their destination spots faster because it did not matter where the starting points were located.

Men used more of the hippocampus regions, while women used the frontal lobes. Pintzka said this was probably due to the manner in which their brains evolved. After all, men had been the hunters, while women started as the gatherers.

"In simple terms, women are faster at finding things in the house, and men are faster at finding the house," Pintzka said.

In the second part of the study, scientists gave testosterone to another group of 21 women and checked out their navigation skills. A placebo group of 21 women also got involved in the task.

While the testosterone did not help them to solve their tasks, it gave them more knowledge of the layout of the map. Moreover, they did use much more of their hippocampus.

Losing sense of direction is an important symptom of Alzheimer's disease. Pintzka said gender and Alzheimer's might be related, for twice as many women contract Alzheimer's.

"Almost all brain-related diseases are different in men and women, either in the number of affected individuals or in severity. Therefore, something is likely protecting or harming people of one sex," Pintzka said.

The study was published online in Behavioural Brain Research.