‘Facebook feature’ in brain vital to your social life
December 30th, 2010 - 12:10 pm ICT by ANI
London, Dec 30 (ANI): A tiny structure in the human brain that scientists have dubbed ‘Facebook feature’ may determine a rich and varied social life among humans.
Scientists at the Northeastern University have found that amygdala, a small almond shaped structure deep within the temporal lobe, can indicate the complexity of social network amongst humans.
“We know that primates who live in larger social groups have a larger amygdala, even when controlling for overall brain size and body size,” said Lisa Feldman Barrett.
“We considered a single primate species, humans, and found that the amygdala volume positively correlated with the size and complexity of social networks in adult humans,” she added.
According to Bradford C. Dickerson, “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.”
“This link was specific to the amygdala, because social network size and complexity were not associated with the size of other brain structures,” he added.
Barrett noted that more research is required to understand more about how the amygdala and other brain regions are involved in social behaviour in humans.
“We and other researchers are also trying to understand how abnormalities in these brain regions may impair social behaviour in neurologic and psychiatric disorders.”
The study appears in Nature Neuroscience. (ANI)
- Size of brain structure correlates with social life - Dec 27, 2010
- Friends, strangers govern mode of speech - Sep 12, 2012
- Multiple channels help brain avoid traffic overload - May 07, 2012
- Brain region responsible for our sense of personal space identified - Aug 31, 2009
- Teens with severe antisocial behavior have smaller brain structures - Apr 01, 2011
- Number of Facebook friends linked to grey matter - Oct 19, 2011
- Political leanings could be wired into brain - Dec 29, 2010
- Inability to detect sarcasm, lies may be early sign of dementia - Apr 16, 2011
- Grey matter size linked to altruism, says study - Jul 12, 2012
- Study links maternal illness to schizophrenia risk - Sep 19, 2010
- Why some mental disorders are more prevalent in males - Nov 18, 2010
- Understanding networks to find how diseases spread - Jun 03, 2012
- Your brain structure could reveal your personality - Jun 23, 2010
- Brain structure invests us with sense of personal space - Aug 31, 2009
- Brain area responsible for fear of losing money discovered - Feb 09, 2010
Tags: adult humans, amygdala, brain regions, brain size, brain structures, complexity, human brain, lisa feldman barrett, men and women, nature neuroscience, neurologic, northeastern university, primate species, primates, psychiatric disorders, social behaviour, social groups, social networks, temporal lobe, tiny structure