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Men, compared to women, are less likely to experience mood disorders. We wondered
if gender differences exist in the ability to self-induce transient sadness and happiness,
and in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) either at rest or during transient emotions.
Ten adult men and 10 age-matched women, all healthy and never mentally ill, were scanned
using H215O positron emission tomography at rest and during happy, sad, and neutral states self-induced
by recalling affect-appropriate life events and looking at happy, sad, or neutral
human faces. At rest, women had decreased temporal and prefrontal cortex rCBF, and
increased brainstem rCBF. There were no significant between-group differences in difficulty,
effort required, or the degree of happiness or sadness induced. Women activated a
significantly wider portion of their limbic system than did men during transient sadness,
despite similar self-reported changes in mood. These findings may aid in understanding
gender differences with respect to emotion and mood.
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Article info
Publication history
Received in revised form:
February 8,
1995
Received:
April 22,
1994
Footnotes
This study was presented in part at the 1994 meeting of the Society of Biological Psychiatry, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (George et al 1994c).
Identification
Copyright
© 1996 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc.
