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Amygdala


             The role of the amygdala has been highly correlated with aversive stimuli but work still remains in its link to pleasant, rewarding stimuli in humans (Hamann et al, 1999). It is the relationship between amygdala activity and memory for pleasant pictures that Hamann et al. expands upon using PET imaging data and recognition tasks. Results indicated that long-term episodic recognition memory for pleasant, aversive and interesting pictures was greatly enhanced. There was also significant correlation between individual recognition memory enhancement for pleasant and aversive pictures and bilateral amygdala activity. Hamann et al. makes very convincing correlations between enhancement of memory and amygdala activity during pleasant and aversive stimuli, based on recognition study results. However some cognitive psychologists criticize that when people demonstrate the ability to recognize something, they may be demonstrating only that they can place that thing in an appropriate conceptual category. They are showing only that they have retained enough information about the "old" picture to distinguish it from the new one (Nickerson and Adams, 1979). This argument seems to hint to the unreliability of recognition studies that use pictures and their waning ability to extract data that can be fervently concluded upon. Recall studies also face criticism, as emotional stimuli become subject to habituation responses. Over time the most salient or novel of stimuli will loose its fervor for emotionality elicited within study subjects. An emotionally arousing event is not often approached with the same degree of feeling as it once was upon initial exposure. This could explain the dilemma with testing recognition and recall after four weeks where the initially pleasant or aversive stimuli in memory are less accessible due to habituation effects. .
             Recognition and recall are linked to more unconscious processes than those in our conscious awareness.


Essays Related to Amygdala

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... perception and hallucination of ghosts, demons, and spirits and the belief in demonic or angelic possession (Motluck 7). The limbic system is composed of three major nuclei: the hypothalamus, the amygdala, and the hippocampus. These nuclei are "primary in regard to memory, the production of visual imagery, and the expression and perception of most aspects of emotion (including religious ecstasy ... increased or decreased sexual activity, pain, drug use, self-mutilation, prayer, and meditation" result in the depletion of serotonin and other neurotransmitters (Joseph 129). As a result, the ...

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2. Causes and Effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

... , & Serpell, 2012). Research has shown that risk factors for anxiety disorders appear to overlap with the development of PTSD. These general risk factors include genetic vulnerability, neuroticism, amygdala hyperactivity, childhood trauma exposure, and tendencies to attend cues of threat in the environment. In a study conducted which consisted of participants who developed PTSD before the age of 26 ... distressing trauma was recollected (Hughes & Shin, 2011). In a fMRI study conducted by Shin and colleagues, during script-driven imagery, PTSD participants exhibited heightened responsivit...

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3. Serial Killers

... patients who moderately improved (calmer, easier to control), 7 patients who slightly improved (reduced excitation), and 2 who showed no change (Eichelman 1983,) supporting the role of the amygdala in producing aggression. The patients, through the forgetting of the affective factors of their stimuli and consequent inactivation of further neural circuits, no longer displayed aggressive behavior. An increased activity ... in the amygdala would present a situation where there is an enhanced emotional response to stimuli and where the associations between stimuli and drive are fortuitous (...

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4. Authoritarian Parenting - Taking it Too Far

... the part of the brain affected by this harsh parenting style. According to Alfred Lubrano, harsh do-as-I-say parenting negatively affects the child's amygdala. The amygdala controls emotions. When it is damaged the child becomes hyperactive and is more apt to get into fights and into trouble with the law (2). ... as toxic stress. Toxic stress is when a stress hormone is released when the child is in a controlling situation. This hormone is what damages the amygdala but it also damages the hippocampus. The damage to the hippocampus can cause problems for the child in school as it contro...

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5. Text Review of the Synaptic Self

... where we store our memory. In the mean time we feel that the memory process uses the temporal lobe portion of our brain, the hippocampus, amygdala and surrounding cortex. The book describes that the system involved in explicit or declarative Text Review 6 memory would be that of the hippocampus and parahippocamal ... areas. Emotional memory, it is believed that the amygdala has an important role in the fear response having an effect on how our body reacts to fear. The lateral amygdala is the input area and it then sends out information, which controls hormones and our ... know how the ...

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6. Brain, Behaviour and Biology

... response three types of components must consist: behavioural, autonomic, and hormonal. One area that has brought with it much research is the role of the amygdale in emotional responses. The amygdala is situated at the temporal lobes and is made up of many nuclei each with different inputs, outputs and purposes. Inputs come from the olfactory system, the frontal cortex, and ... be damaged many emotions could be lost. Fear, loud, or sudden noises produce types of an almost innate automatic response when in a particular situation which is controlled for within the amygdala. The feedback f...

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7. Music Therapy - Healing Transformations

... EEG is an Electroencephalograph. Functional magnetic resonance imaging is an fMRI. STG is the superior temporal gyrus. IFG is the nucleus accumbens. VMPFC is the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex. IQ is an intelligence quotient. PD is Parkinson's disease. Introduction People value music as an art form of self-expression; ... music. The main parts of the brain that Robert Zatorre and Valorie Salimpoor look at are the inferior frontal cortex, superior temporal cortex, nucleus accumbens, amygdala, and medial prefrontal cortex. In Figure 2, there are pictures of brain scans and highlight...

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8. A Profile on Psychiatric Disorders and Psychopathology

... [childhood]. In numerous of the studies that were conducted, few mentioned the biological involvement in the psychopath trait origin. In the 90's, researchers like Blair based their research on the amygdala dysfunction being the core neural system in the pathology of psychopathy. Psychologist like Freud wanted to focus the study of psychopathology on finding the core and learning to prevent it ... and Patrick, have referred their studies to focusing solely on the genetics of psychopathic personality. Researchers have concluded that the amygdala plays a crucial role in the genetic influe...

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9. The Cognitive Systems of Attention

... they can be processed rapidly, automatically and pre-attentively in their entirety (Pessoa & Adolphs, 2010). Neurologically, a specialized sub-cortical path of information processing that is direct to the amygdala has been proposed, perhaps as an adaptation driven by the survival value inherent in perceiving emotional stimuli such as threatening facial expressions (LeDoux, 2003). In one research example, participants ... activation of the fusiform gyrus was greatly affected by whether or not the participant was attending to the face (Vuilleumier et al., 2001). However, activation of the...

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