Editing Amygdala (section)

===Social===
Increased activity in the amygdala following compassion-oriented meditation may contribute to social connectedness.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Hutcherson CA, Seppala EM, Gross JJ | title = Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness | journal = Emotion | volume = 8 | issue = 5 | pages = 720–4 | date = October 2008 | pmid = 18837623 | doi = 10.1037/a0013237 }}</ref> Similarly, the structural white matter connectivity to other brain regions is also associated with social network size.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> The amygdala is also thought to be a determinant of the level of a person's [[emotional intelligence]]. It is particularly hypothesized that larger amygdalae allow for greater emotional intelligence, enabling greater societal integration and cooperation with others.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Human Amygdala |vauthors=Buchanan TW, Tranel D, Adolphs R |publisher=Guilford |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-60623-033-6 |veditors=Whalen PJ, Phelps EA |location=New York |pages=289–318 |chapter=The Human Amygdala in Social Function |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=275mEq72pkUC&pg=PA289}}</ref>

Amygdala volume correlates positively with both the size (the number of contacts a person has) and the complexity (the number of different groups to which a person belongs) of [[social network]]s.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Bickart KC, Wright CI, Dautoff RJ, Dickerson BC, Barrett LF | title = Amygdala volume and social network size in humans | journal = Nature Neuroscience | volume = 14 | issue = 2 | pages = 163–4 | date = February 2011 | pmid = 21186358 | pmc = 3079404 | doi = 10.1038/nn.2724 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://healthland.time.com/2010/12/28/how-to-win-friends-have-a-big-amygdala/?xid=rss-topstories|title=How to Win Friends: Have a Big Amygdala?|magazine=Time|first=Maia|last=Szalavitz | name-list-style = vanc |date=28 December 2010|access-date=30 December 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717061203/http://healthland.time.com/2010/12/28/how-to-win-friends-have-a-big-amygdala/?xid=rss-topstories|archive-date=17 July 2011}}</ref> Individuals with larger amygdalae had larger and more complex social networks. The amygdala is responsible for facial recognition and allows others to respond appropriately to different emotional expressions.<ref>Lynn Ladel, Oxford University Press. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=A2s963AzymYC&q=human+amygdala+function%2F&pg=PA106 Cognitive Neuroscience of Emotion]." 9 October 2014. 1 July 2019.</ref> They were also better able to make accurate social judgments about other persons' faces.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Bzdok D, Langner R, Caspers S, Kurth F, Habel U, Zilles K, Laird A, Eickhoff SB | title = ALE meta-analysis on facial judgments of trustworthiness and attractiveness | journal = Brain Structure & Function | volume = 215 | issue = 3–4 | pages = 209–23 | date = January 2011 | pmid = 20978908 | pmc = 4020344 | doi = 10.1007/s00429-010-0287-4 }}</ref> The amygdala's role in the analysis of social situations stems specifically from its ability to identify and process changes in facial features. It does not, however, process the direction of the gaze of the person being perceived.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Mormann F, Niediek J, Tudusciuc O, Quesada CM, Coenen VA, Elger CE, Adolphs R | title = Neurons in the human amygdala encode face identity, but not gaze direction | journal = Nature Neuroscience | volume = 18 | issue = 11 | pages = 1568–70 | date = November 2015 | pmid = 26479589 | pmc = 4624486 | doi = 10.1038/nn.4139 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Huijgen J, Dinkelacker V, Lachat F, Yahia-Cherif L, El Karoui I, Lemaréchal JD, Adam C, Hugueville L, George N | title = Amygdala processing of social cues from faces: an intracrebral EEG study | journal = Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience | volume = 10 | issue = 11 | pages = 1568–76 | date = November 2015 | pmid = 25964498 | doi = 10.1093/scan/nsv048 | pmc = 4631154 }}</ref>

The amygdala processes reactions to violations concerning [[personal space]]. These reactions are absent in persons in whom the amygdala is damaged bilaterally.<ref name="Kennedy">{{cite journal | vauthors = Kennedy DP, Gläscher J, Tyszka JM, Adolphs R | title = Personal space regulation by the human amygdala | journal = Nature Neuroscience | volume = 12 | issue = 10 | pages = 1226–7 | date = October 2009 | pmid = 19718035 | pmc = 2753689 | doi = 10.1038/nn.2381 }}</ref> Furthermore, the amygdala is found to be activated in [[fMRI]] when people observe that others are physically close to them, such as when a person being scanned knows that an experimenter is standing immediately next to the scanner, versus standing at a distance.<ref name="Kennedy"/><ref>{{cite web |url-status=dead |first1=Kimberly |last1=Brown |website=Manifest Yourself |url=http://www.manifestyourself.com/event-sweat-city-sequel/ |title=Event: Sweat in the City: The Sequel! |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329230852/https://www.manifestyourself.com/event-sweat-city-sequel/ |archive-date=29 March 2019 |date= 9 October 2014 }}</ref> Animal studies have shown that stimulating the amygdala appears to increase both sexual and aggressive behavior. Likewise, studies using brain lesions have shown that harm to the amygdala may produce the opposite effect. Thus, it appears that this part of the brain may play a role in the display and modulation of aggression.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/TLBrink_PSYCH04.pdf |title=Unit 4: The Nervous System |pages=61  |first1=T.L. |last1=Brink |date=2008 |work=Psychology: A Student Friendly Approach |access-date=2016-02-07 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303205950/http://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/TLBrink_PSYCH04.pdf |archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref>

Recent studies have suggested possible correlations between brain structure, including differences in hemispheric ratios and connection patterns in the amygdala, and sexual orientation. [[Homosexual men]] tend to exhibit more feminine patterns in the amygdala than heterosexual males do, just as [[homosexual women]] tend to show more masculine patterns in the amygdala than heterosexual females do. It was observed that amygdala connections were more widespread from the left amygdala in homosexual males, as is also found in heterosexual females. Amygdala connections were more widespread from the right amygdala in homosexual females, as in heterosexual males.<ref name="pnas">{{cite journal |vauthors=Swaab DF |date=July 2008 |title=Sexual orientation and its basis in brain structure and function |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=105 |issue=30 |pages=10273–4 |bibcode=2008PNAS..10510273S |doi=10.1073/pnas.0805542105 |pmc=2492513 |pmid=18653758 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Swaab DF |date=September 2007 |title=Sexual differentiation of the brain and behavior |journal=Best Practice & Research. Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=431–44 |doi=10.1016/j.beem.2007.04.003 |pmid=17875490}}</ref>