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These pathways converge in the lateral amygdala. Long-term potentiation (LTP) and synaptic plasticity that enhances the response of lateral amygdala neurons to the conditioned stimulus occurs in the lateral amygdala. As a result, the conditioned stimulus is then able to flow from the lateral amygdala to the central nucleus of the amygdala.
The amygdala plays a key role in emotional processing especially fear, and amygdala function appears to be emotionally lateralized. When people are shown fearful faces the left amygdala and left periamygdaloid cortex increase in activation. There also appears to be a greater increase in neural activity in the left amygdala corresponding to an ...
Fear is a conscious experience and occurs the same way as any other kind of conscious experience: via cortical circuits that allow attention to certain forms of brain activity. He argues the only differences between an emotional and non-emotion state of consciousness are the underlying neural ingredients that contribute to the state. [ 16 ]
The basolateral amygdala and nucleus accumbens shell together mediate specific Pavlovian-instrumental transfer, a phenomenon in which a classically conditioned stimulus modifies operant behavior. [7] [8] One of the main functions of the basolateral complex is to stimulate the fear response. The fear system is intended to avoid pain or injury.
The amygdala is one of the best-understood brain regions with regard to differences between the sexes. The amygdala is larger in males than females, in children aged 7 to 11, [17] adult humans, [18] and adult rats. [19] There is considerable growth within the first few years of structural development in both male and female amygdalae. [20]
S.M., sometimes referred to as SM-046, is an American woman with a peculiar type of brain damage that physiologically reduces her ability to feel fear.First described by scientists in 1994, [1] she has had exclusive and complete bilateral amygdala destruction since late childhood as a consequence of Urbach–Wiethe disease.
The Intercalated cells of the amygdala (ITC or ICCs) are GABAergic neurons situated between the basolateral and central nuclei of the amygdala that play a significant role in inhibitory control over the amygdala. [1] They regulate amygdala-dependent emotional processing like fear memory and social behavior.
Amygdala is shown in purple. The amygdalofugal pathway (Latin for "fleeing from the amygdala" and commonly distinguished as the ventral amygdalofugal pathway) is one of the three principal pathways by which fibers leave the amygdala. The other main efferent pathways from the amygdala are the stria terminalis and anterior commissure.