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Human brain in the coronal orientation. Amygdalae are shown in dark red. The amygdala (/ ə ˈ m ɪ ɡ d ə l ə /; pl.: amygdalae / ə ˈ m ɪ ɡ d ə l i,-l aɪ / or amygdalas; also corpus amygdaloideum; Latin from Greek, ἀμυγδαλή, amygdalē, 'almond', 'tonsil' [1]) is a paired nuclear complex present in the cerebral hemispheres of vertebrates.
[5] [7] For example, studies with Maria Morgan in the 1990s implicated the medial prefrontal cortex in the extinction (psychology) of responses to threats [8] and paved the way for understanding how exposure therapy reduces threat reactions in people with anxiety by way of interactions between the medial prefrontal cortex and the amygdala.
An amygdala hijack is an emotional response that is immediate, overwhelming, and out of measure with the actual stimulus because it has triggered a much more significant emotional threat. [1] The term, coined by Daniel Goleman in his 1996 book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ , [ 2 ] is used by affective neuroscientists ...
Besides memory, the amygdala also seems to be an important brain region involved in attentional and emotional processes. First, to define attention in cognitive terms, attention is the ability to focus on some stimuli while ignoring others. Thus, the amygdala seems to be an important structure in this ability.
In a study using fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG-PET) to examine the brain during recall of films that were both neutral and aversive, there was a positive correlation between the brain glucose and metabolic rate in the amygdala. [10] The activity in the amygdala is part of the episodic memory that was being created due to the adverse stimuli. [10]
In fear conditioning, the main circuits that are involved are the sensory areas that process the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli, certain regions of the amygdala that undergo plasticity (or long-term potentiation) during learning, and the regions that bear an effect on the expression of specific conditioned responses.
Thus, giving the amygdala an important role in coordinating the following behavioral input based on the presented neurotransmitters that respond to threat stimuli. These biological functions of the amygdala are not only limited to the "fear-conditioning" and "processing of aversive stimuli", but also are present on other components of the amygdala.
The Amygdala is known as the "fear center of the brain," and is thought to be activated and regulated in response to stressful situations marked with perceived heightened stimulation. Specifically, the Amygdala is responsible for identifying threats of danger to self and safety. [ 8 ]