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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 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.
Fear memories, for example, are considered to be stored in the neuronal connections from the lateral nuclei to the central nucleus of the amygdalae and the bed nuclei of the stria terminalis (part of the extended amygdala). These connections are not the sole site of fear memories given that the nuclei of the amygdala receive and send ...
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 ...
The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is a part of the prefrontal cortex in the mammalian brain.The ventral medial prefrontal is located in the frontal lobe at the bottom of the cerebral hemispheres and is implicated in the processing of risk and fear, as it is critical in the regulation of amygdala activity in humans. [2]
Pavlovian fear conditioning is a behavioral paradigm in which organisms learn to predict aversive events. [1] It is a form of learning in which an aversive stimulus (e.g. an electrical shock) is associated with a particular neutral context (e.g., a room) or neutral stimulus (e.g., a tone), resulting in the expression of fear responses to the originally neutral stimulus or context.
Fear-potentiated startle (FPS) is a reflexive physiological reaction to a presented stimulus, and is an indicator of the fear reaction in an organism. The FPS response can be elicited in the face of any threatening stimulus (e.g., any object, person or situation that would cause someone to experience feelings of fear), but it can also be elicited by a neutral stimulus as a result of fear ...
The central nucleus can be thought of as the exit of the amygdaloid bodies through which the bodily responses that are associated with fear leave the amygdala. [12] It is the most peptide-rich region of the brain. [8] The amygdalofugal pathway connects the central nucleus of the amygdala to the brainstem.