Amygdala volume increases with age, more strongly in boys
A new neuroimaging study reveals that the amygdala—the brain's emotion center—grows significantly from the fetal stage to early childhood. This growth is steeper in boys, and early left amygdala size is linked to later communication skills.
A neuroimaging study published in Human Brain Mapping has revealed that the volume of the amygdala, a brain region crucial for processing emotions, increases with age and this growth is more pronounced in boys compared to girls. Conducted by researchers from Western University and involving data from multiple datasets, the study examined participants from fetal stage through the first four years of life, totaling 471 individuals.
The amygdala, an almond-shaped structure in the brain's temporal lobes, plays a key role in detecting threats and regulating fear responses, as well as influencing memory, decision-making, and stress reactions. This study found that the amygdala's volume increases with age, with a steeper increase in boys. Additionally, the left amygdala, which is larger than the right in males, exhibited a more significant age-related growth.
For 30 participants from the CMIND study, additional data on neurodevelopmental abilities was available. These individuals, who had no neurodevelopmental disorders, showed that smaller left amygdala volumes were associated with better social-emotional, cognitive, and receptive communication outcomes in early childhood. The study authors suggest that these findings could predict later social and cognitive outcomes in typically developing populations, although they caution that the conclusions are preliminary due to the limited number of children analyzed.
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