Masculine faces are perceived as more attractive and more dangerous

Researchers scanned women's brains as they looked at photos of men. The pictures had been altered to make the men's faces more or less masculine. The more masculine faces won out in terms of attraction - but the areas of the brain that were activated indicated these faces were also ones the women found most threatening. Compared with the feminized faces, masculinized faces led to more activity in five specific brain areas: the left superior temporal gyrus, bilateral precentral gyrus, right posterior cingulate cortex, bilateral inferior parietal lobule, and bilateral anterior cingulate cortex. These areas have been implicated in face processing as well as the assessment of risk, suggesting that, consciously or not, masculinized faces are perceived as not only more attractive but also more dangerous.