Gender and the Emotional Brain

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Brain structures in each sex reflect differences in how they respond to stressful or exciting situations.

Women have a larger caudate nucleus and hippocampus, both key for learning and memory. These areas help to inform future decisions by processing the pros and cons of recent actions.

Men have a larger amygdala and hypothalamus, emotional centers of the brain. Scientists do not yet know how this size difference translates to behavior.

SA Mind Vol 24 Issue 3This article was published with the title “Gender and the Emotional Brain” in SA Mind Vol. 24 No. 3 (), p. 14
doi:10.1038/scientificamericanmind0713-14b

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