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.
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