Articles tagged with Amygdala
A brain protein called BDNF plays a critical role in regulating anxiety and alcohol consumption in rats. Lower levels of BDNF in specific areas of the brain increased anxiety and drinking behavior, while restoring normal BDNF levels diminished these effects.
Researchers from the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute have found significantly fewer neurons in the amygdala of males with autism, a key brain region responsible for emotional responses and social learning. The study provides new insights into the neuroanatomical basis of autism, which may help advance research into this lifelong neurodevel...
Youth with bipolar disorder show increased brain activity when rating hostile faces, indicating difficulty processing emotional cues. This finding may help refine diagnosis and understanding of the underlying brain mechanisms.
Researchers discovered that men's and women's brains behave differently even when at rest, with distinct connections to other brain regions. This finding may lead to a better understanding of why certain psychiatric disorders affect one gender more than the other.
Researchers found that the hippocampus processes contextual memories, while the anterior cingulate cortex handles unpleasant stimuli. The amygdala consolidates both contextual and unpleasant information, suggesting a fragmented processing of memories.
A brain imaging study has discovered that oxytocin quells the brain's fear hub, the amygdala, and its brainstem relay stations in response to fearful stimuli. This finding suggests a potentially powerful treatment approach toward socially relevant fear and may have therapeutic value in disorders characterized by social avoidance.
Researchers found that the amygdala becomes increasingly hyperactive when patients look at threatening faces, correlating with social phobia symptoms. The study suggests functional magnetic resonance imaging could predict clinical symptom severity and monitor treatment effectiveness.
Research reveals that the number of serotonin receptors in the subgenual prefrontal cortex affects the amygdala's emotional state, influencing behavior in stressful situations. Higher levels of these receptors can reduce rational 'discussion' and lead to increased amygdala activity.
A study at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center identified the neuroD2 gene as a potential controller of risk-taking behavior and emotional memory in humans. Mice with one copy of the gene showed impaired ability to form emotional memories and conditioned fear, similar to humans who have varying levels of risk-taking tendencies.
Research reveals that emotionally arousing events activate the brain's amygdala, strengthening connections between neurons and increasing a protein called Arc to store lasting memories. The study shows that the amygdala plays a pivotal role in forming long-term memories.
Researchers at the Queensland Brain Institute have identified a key protein involved in regulating emotions and memories. Blocking this protein enhanced connections between cells in the amygdala, potentially leading to novel treatment strategies for anxiety disorders and other mental health conditions.
Researchers identified a brain circuit for social function and its abnormalities in people with Williams Syndrome, who exhibit increased anxiety despite being highly social. The amygdala's response regulation was found to be critical to social behavior, with abnormal processing leading to fearlessness in social interactions.
Researchers found that five out of eight African Americans and seven out of eleven Caucasians showed increased amygdala activity when viewing expressionless African American photos compared to Caucasian photos. This suggests that people from both groups have similar emotional brain responses to the same stimulus.
A brain scan study found that people with a depression-linked gene variant have less gray matter and weaker connections in the mood-regulating circuit. The circuit's connectivity accounted for nearly 30% of their anxious temperament.
Research reveals that two brain systems, amygdala and right prefrontal cortex, play a crucial role in determining an individual's behavior and emotional expression when seeking help. The study found that animals with more secure relationships had increased activity in the right prefrontal cortex and decreased amygdala activity, while t...
A UW-Madison study found that autistic children's amygdalas light up during non-threatening face gazing, stunting brain activity in the fusiform region. This challenges existing notions of facial processing in autism, suggesting a more complex relationship between social interaction and brain function.
Researchers at Princeton University found that automatic vigilance happens mainly when people categorize others, but this reaction can be controlled. The study used fMRI to measure activity in the amygdala and showed that participants only exhibited activation when they categorized faces by age, not racial characteristics.
A new study reveals that the amygdala actively directs gaze to eye region to process fear cues, enabling individuals with damaged amygdalae to recognize fear in facial expressions. Researchers suggest training patients to always look at eyes may rescue impaired fear recognition.
Researchers found that people with higher anxiety tend to react more quickly to fearful faces, indicating heightened emotional vigilance. The study also pinpoints the basolateral region of the amygdala as crucial for unconscious processing of threats.
Researchers found that unconscious subcortical bias can be squelched by the frontal cortex, and that early perceptual processing may result in an automatic emotional response. Consistently, participants with less racial bias displayed less amygdala activity to black faces.
An imaging study found a structural difference in the brains of cocaine addicts, with the amygdala being smaller. This could reflect impaired judgement and contribute to the addictive behavior.
Researchers found a significant reduction in amygdala volume in cocaine addicts compared to nonaddicts, suggesting a possible predisposition to addiction. The study's findings indicate that the condition may pre-exist addiction and could be linked to difficulties in identifying potential negative outcomes.
A recent study found that secretin alters amygdala responsiveness to affective stimuli, providing a potential treatment avenue for conditions like schizophrenia, depression, and autism. The ability to detect and measure secretin's effects in the brain has important implications for studying both brain and behavioral effects.
Research reveals a strong relationship between drugs of abuse, stress, and the amygdala, suggesting CRF receptor blockers may be a new therapeutic for alcoholics. The study highlights the complex neurobiology of addiction, with compounds blocking CRF receptors potentially providing relief from relapse.
Researchers find dopamine-rich brain regions associated with reward and motivation are active in individuals experiencing intense romantic love. They also discover a link between trust and oxytocin hormone release.
Researchers have directly observed the brain mechanisms involved in predictive associations, a key process in associative learning. The study found that changes in neural activity in the amygdala support changes in the orbitofrontal cortex, highlighting the importance of this brain system.
Researchers discovered that the brain can associate certain stimuli with food consumption when hungry, but not after eating. This association is linked to brain regions involved in conditioning and reward pathways.
Researchers found that stimulating a small region of the cerebral cortex, known as the rostral agranular insular cortex (RAIC), can diminish pain in patients with chronic pain conditions. Increasing GABA levels in this area produced analgesia up to 10 days, suggesting a novel target for therapy.
Researchers found that inhibited temperaments show a greater brain response to unfamiliar faces, while uninhibited individuals exhibit less. The study's findings support the theory that temperamental differences relate to amygdala function and persist into adulthood.
A recent study published in Science found that the direction of another's gaze significantly affects how we perceive emotions. When viewing pictures of angry or fearful expressions, brain activity increases in the amygdala when the person is looking away or not making direct eye contact.
A team of researchers at Columbia University identified a gene called Grp that inhibits the fear-learning circuitry in the brain. The discovery reveals that eliminating this protein's activity enhances learned fear and long-term potentiation, offering new insights into anxiety disorders and depression.
A clinical trial using fMRI found that secretin activates the amygdala, a brain region involved in social integration and implicated in autism. The study suggests that secretin may have a role in modulating certain social behaviors in humans.
A study found that subjects with one or two copies of a short gene variant experienced greater activation of the amygdala when shown pictures of scary faces. This variation in the serotonin transporter gene may influence an individual's temperament and anxiety traits.
A study published in Science found that the brains of outgoing people react more to happy faces than those of shy individuals. The research focused on the amygdala, a pea-sized area of the brain associated with emotion and memory, and found that high extraversion scores were linked to increased amygdala activation to happy faces.
A new mathematical model developed by Cornell University researchers predicts brain development milestones in mammals, including humans. The model accurately predicted post-conception time of neural events in rats, mice, and monkeys, but revealed discrepancies for human infants and primates.
A new study reveals that the amygdala plays a pivotal role in initiating memory storage by deciding which experiences are important enough to store based on emotional significance. The research uses male rabbits and temporarily disables the amygdala, leading to a breakdown of learning-related changes in other brain regions.
Researchers found that amygdala activity levels are related to unconscious social evaluation, but not conscious attitudes. The study used fMRI to examine the role of the amygdala in racial evaluation and found a significant link between neural activity and implicit race bias.
Researchers at UPMC Health System found abnormally high metabolism in the amygdala, a small area of the brain, may cause many symptoms of depression. The study's findings may lead to more effective antidepressant and mood stabilizing treatments for nearly 19 million people affected by these disorders.