
BLOOMINGTON, Ind., Nov. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have determined strong brain activity in the brains of women viewing masculinized male faces is most pronounced when they're ovulating.
Researchers at Indiana University's Kinsey Institute said it's been known a woman's preferences for masculine characteristics in men changes during the menstrual cycle. Through the new study, the scientists wanted to determine if those changes were linked with changes in brain activity.
Neuroscientist Heather Rupp and her team used computer imaging software to masculinize and feminize 56 male faces. The faces were shown to 12 heterosexual women with an average age of 25 years during a time they were close to ovulation, and during the luteal phase that begins after ovulation.
The researchers collected blood samples for hormone analyses and used functional MRI to measure brain activity in several brain regions.
The findings showed stronger responses to masculinized than feminized faces in brain regions related to face perception, decision making and reward processing when the women were closer to ovulation, the researchers said.
The study appears in the online edition of the journal Evolution and Human Behavior.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Additional Science News Stories | |
ABUJA, Nigeria, May 25 (UPI) --
The Nigerian army says it destroyed camps used by Islamist militants to coordinate attacks against communities in northeastern regions of the country.
|
JAKARTA, May 25 (UPI) --
South Korean pop star Psy will perform in Indonesia at a concert celebrating diplomatic ties between the two countries, his management agency said Saturday.
|
COLOGNE, Germany, May 25 (UPI) --
An Apple-1 computer, which sold for $666 when it debuted in 1976, sold for a record $671,400 Saturday at auction in German, the auctioneer said.
|
WRENSHALL, Minn., May 25 (UPI) --
A woman says she was riding along a trail in northern Minnesota recently when she found herself falling off her horse and the animal slipping into a sink hole.
|
| Stories | Photos | Comments |
View Caption