Friday, March 7, 2008

Explaining gender differences through video games research

" ... However, it was when the team analysed the fMRI scans of the entire group that they noticed an apparent gender difference. They found that the participants showed activation in the brain's mesocorticolimbic centre, the region typically associated with reward and addiction. The male brains were activated much more strongly than the females, with a direct correlation between the degree of activation and the amount of territory gained. There was no activation-territory correlation for the women, though.

The researchers explain that three structures within the reward circuit - the nucleus accumbens, amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex - were also shown to influence each other much more in men than in women. And the better connected this circuit was, the better males performed in the game.

The findings suggest that the men simply enjoyed winning territory in the computer game more than the women. Reiss is apparently unsurprised by the discovery. "I think it's fair to say that males tend to be more intrinsically territorial," he explains, "It doesn't take a genius to figure out who historically are the conquerors and tyrants of our species - they're the males." ... "

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[source: Sciencebase ]


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