Register for Left brain memory activity stronger in women, right brain in men
NeurologyAugust 7, 2004
2004 AUG 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Study results show a stronger relationship between left hemisphere amygdala activity and memory in women than in men and between right hemisphere amygdala activity and memory in men than in women.
According to University of California, Irvine, neurobiologists, "The amygdala appears necessary for enhanced long-term memory associated with emotionally arousing events. Recent brain imaging investigations support this view and indicate a sex-related hemispheric lateralization exists in the amygdala relationship to memory for emotional material. This study confirms and further explores this finding."
L. Cahill and colleagues had healthy men and women view standardized slides while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The slides "were rated by the subjects as ranging from emotionally neutral to highly arousing. Two weeks later, memory for the slides was assessed in an incidental recognition test."
The researchers reported that the experiment's "results demonstrate a significantly stronger relationship in men than in women between activity of the right hemisphere amygdala and memory for those slides judged as arousing, and a significantly stronger relationship in women than in men between activity of the left hemisphere amygdala and memory for arousing slides."
"An ANOVA confirmed a significant interaction between sex and hemisphere regarding amygdala function in memory," Cahill and team said.
They concluded, "These results provide the strongest evidence to date of a sex-related hemispheric lateralization of amygdala function in memory for emotional material. Furthermore, they underscore the view that investigations of neural mechanisms underlying emotionally influenced memory must anticipate, and begin to account for, the apparently substantial influence of sex."
Cahill and coauthors published the results of their research in Learning & Memory (Sex-related hemispheric lateralization of amygdala function in emotionally influenced memory: an fMRI investigation. Learn Mem, 2004;11(3):261-266).
For additional information, contact L. Cahill, University of California-Irvine, Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Irvine, CA 92697 USA.
The publisher of the journal Learning & Memory can be contacted at: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Publications Department, 500 Sunnyside Blvd., Woodbury, NY 11797-2924 USA.
The information in this article comes under the major subject areas of Neurology, Gender Studies and Memory. This article was prepared by Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2004, Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week via NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net.
©Copyright 2004, Women's Health Weekly via NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net
