Technology Slice Blog

Social Butterflies Bigger Brains - Social butterflies often have bigger personalities than introverts. Now, new research suggests that parts of their brains might be bigger too. Scientists in New England have linked the size of the amygdala, an almond-shaped part of the brain tied to fear and fight-or-flight responses, to the size and complexity of one's social network. The bigger the amygdala, the larger and more intricate the person's social life seems to be, according to the team at Massachusetts General Hospital. Social Butterflies Bigger Brains The findings, published this week in the journal Nature Neuroscience, seem to fall in line with previous research showing that primates tend to be more social if they have larger amygdala, though none of the studies have determined whether a bigger-sized amygdala is the reason for the more extensive social network or the other way around. "We know that primates who live in larger social groups have a larger amygdala,...