A tiny structure deep within her brain called the amygdala caused a massive fear response.
Animal and human studies implicate the amygdala in conditioning to aversive stimuli and orbitofrontal cortex in reversal learning.
Consistent with neuropsychological findings, both types of fearful stimuli activated the amygdala.
In anxious individuals, the amygdala seems to overreact and set off these responses even when the individual is not really in danger.
In autistic brains, the amygdala, part of the brain responsible for incorporating emotional information, may be physically larger than in typical brains.
In young children emotional activity was localized in primitive subcortical areas of the brain, specifically, the amygdala.
It is thought that the emotional overreactions in Alzheimer's patients are related to the destruction of neurons in the amygdala.
Just as drinking alcohol during pregnancy can result in mental retardation and physical delays, other substances may result in changes to the amygdala and temporal lobe.
Limbic system-A group of structures in the brain that includes the hypothalamus, amygdala, olfactory bulbs, and hippocampus.
One part of the brain that was as of 2004 being studied is the amygdala, an almond-shaped body of nerve cells involved in normal fear conditioning.
One part of your brain that processes emotions is the amygdala and it is swelling a bit during puberty and adolescence.
Research has also shown that these behaviorally inhibited children have a decreased threshold of excitability in the area of the brain called the amygdala.
Selective bilateral damage to the human amygdala is rare, offering unique insights into its functions.
The amygdala then stimulates the hypothalamus to produce corticotropin-releasing hormone.
The findings showed impaired recognition of fear following bilateral temporal lobe damage when this included the amygdala.
The normal function of the amygdala is to receive and process signals of potential danger and set off a series of reactions that will help individuals protect themselves, such as the fight-or-flight response.
This area includes the amygdala, an area associated with emotional arousal, and the anterior hippocampus, which is associated with long-term memory.