If your social life leaves something to be desired, it might be your brain structure that’s to blame.
: W7 |8 G& N; `2 z& L8 U A ‘Facebook feature’ deep in the temporal lobe governs the number of friends you are likely to make, scientists have found., Z2 O& ^$ k7 Z. U
The amygdala, a small almond-shaped structure, has for some time been linked to empathy and fear responses. w, d* Z6 S5 I7 w' e
But a study suggests that the larger the amygdala, the wider and more complex is its owner’s network of friends and colleagues.
: A8 Q% M+ h5 o2 ] Volunteers aged between 19 to 83 were asked to complete questionnaires which measured how many regular social contacts they had, and in how many different groups.
: D; d- A- k0 P Magnetic resonance imaging scans found a positive link between big amygdalas and the richest social lives. Professor Lisa Barrett, a psychologist at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, reported the findings in the journal Nature Neuroscience.$ T! K; u/ P& R5 V
She said they were consistent with the social brain theory, which suggests the human amygdala evolved to deal with an increasingly complex social world.: n% h0 d- K' X3 L+ r5 b/ G
Other studies of primates have shown that those living in larger groups tend to have larger amygdalas. The findings was published in a new study in Nature Neuroscience.
, O( ]" F! G$ @& p( d. S) p Dr Lisa Barrett, Professor of Psychology at Northeastern University, who took part in the research, said the amygdala got bigger to cope with mankind's more hectic social life.1 u$ O3 [8 @" i5 f3 v+ o7 U/ T
She added: 'Further research is in progress to try to understand more about how the amygdala and other brain regions are involved in social behaviour in humans.'. y' j6 ]7 k0 p
Her colleague Dr Bradford Dickerson, an associate Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School said: 'This link between amygdala size and social network size and complexity was observed for both older and younger individuals and for both men and women.'
7 L8 ?( D- K0 M, e& ]+ Z8 | Recently US scientists reported on the case of a woman whose amygdala had been destroyed by a medical condition.. O; l E2 ?" a' G. a
As a result the 44-year-old mother of three felt no fear and constantly put herself in danger. Over the years she had been threatened with a knife, held at gunpoint and assaulted.
9 K ~4 v! v* u4 O9 L) q 如果你的社交生活不尽人意,那可能得怪你的大脑结构。. b5 E F R9 C* D9 t8 A
科学家们发现,大脑颞叶深处的“交际特征”决定了你可能交到的朋友个数。
! }/ }' ]7 j/ ^6 m+ o" e 人们一度认为杏仁核与同理心和恐惧反应有关。杏仁核是大脑内一个小的杏仁状组织。3 Y* U/ a2 a e* C' e$ K( K
但是一项研究显示,一个人的杏仁核越大,他的朋友圈和同事圈就越大越复杂。$ }# e/ N& j, R# w% x# x" Z
参与该研究的志愿者年龄介于19岁到83岁之间,研究者请他们填写调查问卷,以得出他们经常联系的朋友个数以及有多少种不同类别的朋友。% V. D% x$ b; f9 r/ ^& s: g C
磁共振成像扫描显示,杏仁核的大小与社交生活的丰富程度成正比。美国东北大学的心理学家丽莎•贝瑞特教授在《自然神经科学》杂志上发表了以上调查结果。东北大学位于马萨诸塞州波士顿市。中华考试网
/ X4 @& S& r# [3 Y k& e 贝瑞特教授说调查结果与社会脑理论相符,该理论认为人类杏仁核的进化是为了应对愈来愈复杂的社交世界。
& _4 f2 j$ N' X* Y$ R9 _$ c 其他对灵长类动物的研究发现,群居动物的杏仁核要更大一些。这些研究成果发表在《自然神经科学》的一项新研究报告中。0 N9 B/ l B) x: i8 Y8 k$ f
东北大学的心理学教授丽莎•贝瑞特博士参与了这项课题,她说人类的杏仁核变大是为了应付日益繁忙的社交生活。( i- c9 n1 l$ C7 [ g/ Y7 }: @9 `: d
她接着说:“我们目前正在进行更深层次的研究,来进一步了解杏仁核和其他脑部区域如何影响人类的社会行为。”( z6 |0 b" A2 Q. p$ Z6 I. k/ H
她的同事布拉德福德•狄克生博士说:“我们观察了人们的杏仁核大小与社交圈大小和复杂程度之间的关系。我们的观察对象有老有少,有男有女。”狄克生博士是哈佛大学医学院的神经病学副教授。
* F: g# c/ }6 t7 d- X4 T9 l/ A 美国科学家们观察了一位因病导致杏仁核受损的妇女,最近他们就观察结果作了报告。$ V) D; i' \9 j$ t# ?
报告显示,这位已经是三个孩子母亲的44岁的女人从来感觉不到恐惧,并经常将自己置于危险的境地。这些年来,她遭受过匕首威胁,被人拿枪指过头,还曾经惨遭殴打。 |