14 DAY TRIAL // Scientists at the Jagiellonian University Hospital, in Krakow, Poland, have just recently finished conducting a new study on how men and women respond to both positive and negative stimuli. Their research has revealed that the brain lights up in different patterns for the two genders. The work was conducted using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), an imaging technique that allows for investigators to see the areas of the brain that are activated when a certain stimulus is applied. The data were presented on November 29, at the 2009 annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
“Men may direct more attention to sensory aspects of emotional stimuli and tend to process them in terms of implications for required action, whereas women direct more attention to the feelings engendered by emotional stimuli,” the JUH Chair of Radiology, Andrzej Urbanik, MD, PhD, explains. In the new set of experiments, the researchers analyzed 40 right-handed volunteers, of which 21 were men and 19 were women. The participants were asked to view images from the widely used standardized testing system known as the International Affective Picture System (IAPS), while hooked up to an fMRI machine. All participants were aged 18 to 36.
The images were shown in two different runs. The first one featured only photos that created negative feelings inside the participants, while the second one featured only positive photographs. In the case of women, it was noticed that the left thalamus, an area linking the cerebral cortex to pain and pleasure centers, was more active. When it came to men, it was noticed that their left insula was highly active. This region of the brain is involved in decision-making systems and can also generate subjective feelings that bring about action.
“The brain activation seen in the women might indicate stronger involvement of the neural circuit, which is associated with identification of emotional stimuli. The more pronounced activation of the insular cortex in the men might be related to the autonomic components, such as elevated heart rate or increased sweating, that accompany watching emotional material. In men, the negative images on the slides were more potent in driving their autonomic system. This might signal that when confronted with dangerous situations, men are more likely than women to take action,” Dr. Urbanik explains.