Male Brain – high-level summary functions of various areas and gender differences
1 -->Medial Preoptic Area (MPOA): This is the area for sexual
pursuit, found in the hypothalamus, and it is 2.5 times larger in the male. Men
need it to start an erection.
2 -->Temporal Parietal Junction (TPJ): The solution seeker, this
"cognitive empathy" brain hub rallies the brain's resources to solve
distressing problems while taking into account the perspective of the other
person or people involved. During interpersonal emotional exchanges, it's more
active in the male brain, comes on-line more quickly, and races toward a
"fix-it-fast" solution.
3 --> Dorsal Premammillary Nucleus (DPN): The defend-your-turf
area, it lies deep inside the hypothalamus and contains the circuitry for a
male's instinctive one-upmanship, territorial defense, fear, and aggression.
It's larger in males than in females and contains special circuits to detect
territorial challenges by other males, making men more sensitive to potential
turf threats.
4 --> Amygdala:
The alarm system for threats, fear, and danger. Drives emotional impulses. It
gets fired up to fight by testosterone, vasopressin, and cortisol and is calmed
by oxytocin. This area is larger in men than in women.
5 -->Rostral
Cingulate Zone (RCZ): The brain's barometer for registering social approval or
disapproval. This "I am accepted or not" area keeps humans from
making the most fundamental social mistake: being too different from others. The
RCZ is the brain center for processing social errors. It alerts us when we're
not hitting the mark in our relationship or job. During puberty, it may help males
reset their facial responses to hide their emotions.
6 -->Ventral
Tegmental Area (VTA): It's the motivation center - an area deep in the center
of the brain that manufactures dopamine, a neurotransmitter required for initiating
movement, motivation, and reward. It is more active in the male brain.
7 -->Peraqueductal
(PAG): The PAG is part of the brain's pain circuit, helping to control
involuntary pleasure and pain. During sexual intercourse, it is the center for
pain suppression, intense pleasure, and moaning. It is more active during sex
in the male brain.
8 -->Mirror-Neuron
System (MNS): The "I feel what you feel" emotional empathy system.
Gets in sync with others' emotions by reading facial expressions and interpreting
tone of voice and other nonverbal emotional cues. It is larger and more active
in the female brain.
9 -->Anterior
Cingulate Cortex (ACC): It's the worry-wart, fear-of punishment area and center
of sexual performance anxiety. It's smaller in men than in women. It weighs
options, detects conflicts, motivates decisions. Testosterone decreases worries
about punishment. The ACC is also the area for self-consciousness.
10 -->Prefrontal
Cortex (PFC): The CEO of the brain, the PFC focuses on the matter at hand and
makes good judgments. This "pay total attention to this now" area
also works as an inhibiting system to put the brakes on impulses. It's larger in
women and matures faster in females than in males by one to two years.
