All Articles Tagged As: amygdala

People with anxiety disorder less able to regulate response to negative emotions, study shows (2/17/2010)

People with generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD, have abnormalities in the way their brain unconsciously controls emotions. That's the conclusion of a new Stanford University School of Medicine study, and the study authors say the findings could open up new avenues for treatments and change our understanding of how emotion is regulated in everyday life. ...> Full Article

Brain scans track hoop fans' happy memories (2/13/2010)

In a novel study that used historical tape of a thrilling overtime basketball game between Duke and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, brain researchers at Duke have found that fans remember the good things their team did much better than the bad. ...> Full Article

Patients 'unafraid' to gamble highlight role of amygdala in decision-making (2/10/2010)

Two patients with rare lesions to the brain have provided direct of evidence of how we make decisions -- and what makes us dislike the thought of losing money. ...> Full Article

Brain scientists extend map of fear memory formation (2/1/2010)

Draw a map of the brain when fear and anxiety are involved, and the amygdala looms large. But scientists have now extended the brain's fear map to include the prelimbic cortex. Researchers found that mice lacking a critical growth factor in the prelimbic cortex have trouble remembering to fear electric shocks. The discovery could help improve diagnosis and treatment for anxiety disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder and phobias. ...> Full Article

Brain's fear center is equipped with a built-in suffocation sensor (11/30/2009)

The portion of our brains that is responsible for registering fear and even panic has a built-in chemical sensor that is triggered by a primordial terror -- suffocation. A report in the November 25th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, shows in studies of mice that the rise in acid levels in the brain upon breathing carbon dioxide triggers acid-sensing channels that evoke fear behavior. ...> Full Article

Study sheds light on brain's fear processing center (11/28/2009)

A University Iowa study helps explain why breathing carbon dioxide can trigger panic attacks and also suggests a new role for the amygdala -- the brain region that processes fear signals and directs fear behavior -- as a sensor that can detect certain fear signals for itself. ...> Full Article

Are teenagers wired differently than adults? (11/19/2009)

Parents have long suspected that the brains of their teenagers function differently than those of adults. ...> Full Article

Sniffing out memories (11/11/2009)

Why are some smells irrevocably tied to certain memories? Weizmann Institute scientists found that our brain shows unique activity the first time we encounter a smell in the context of a particular experience. ...> Full Article

Early scents really do get 'etched' in the brain (11/8/2009)

Common experience tells us that particular scents of childhood can leave quite an impression, for better or for worse. Now, researchers reporting the results of a brain imaging study online on Nov. 5 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, show that first scents really do enjoy a "privileged" status in the brain. ...> Full Article

Changes in brain chemicals mark shifts in infant learning (10/30/2009)

When do you first leave the nest? Early in development infants of many species experience important transitions -- such as learning when to leave the mother's protection to start exploring the world. Neuroscientists have now pinpointed molecular events occurring in the brain during that turning point. The findings, in animals, may help explain the strength of attachments in many species -- including the conundrum of why human children form strong attachments to even abusive caregivers. ...> Full Article

2 brain structures key to emotional balance especially in threatening situations (10/23/2009)

Researchers have discovered that a primitive region of the brain responsible for sensorimotor control also has an important role in regulating emotional responses to threatening situations. This region appears to work in concert with another structure called the amygdala to regulate social and emotional behavior. ...> Full Article

Scary music is scarier with your eyes shut (9/19/2009)

Tel Aviv University brain scientist says findings could lead to new neurological treatments ...> Full Article

Neuroscientists find brain region responsible for our sense of personal space (9/4/2009)

In a finding that sheds new light on the neural mechanisms involved in social behavior, neuroscientists at the California Institute of Technology have pinpointed the brain structure responsible for our sense of personal space. The discovery, described in the Aug. 30 issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience, could offer insight into autism and other disorders where social distance is an issue. ...> Full Article

Excessive drinking can damage brain regions used for processing facial emotions (8/17/2009)

Heavy, constant drinking damages the brain in many different ways, including difficulties in perception of emotional expressions. Brain-imaging findings show that abstinent alcoholics have decreased activation in the amygdala and hippocampus regions of the brain when viewing faces with emotional expressions. Misreading facial cues can escalate conflict and difficulties, impaired social interaction and continued drinking. ...> Full Article

Brain difference in psychopaths identified (8/5/2009)

Professor Declan Murphy and colleagues Dr. Michael Craig and Dr. Marco Catani from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London have found differences in the brain which may provide a biological explanation for psychopathy. The results of their study are outlined in the paper "Altered connections on the road to psychopathy," published in Molecular Psychiatry. ...> Full Article

Genetic variant impairs communication within the brain (5/4/2009)

For some time now it has been known that certain hereditary factors enhance the risk of schizophrenia or a manic-depressive disorder. However, just how this occurs had remained obscure. Researchers at the Zentralinstitut fur Seelische Gesundheit in Mannheim, Heidelberg University and Bonn University are now able to answer this question, at least for one common genetic variant: this impairs the interoperation of certain regions of the brain. ...> Full Article

Heightened level of amygdala activity may cause social deficits in autism (3/24/2009)

Researchers at the University of Washington have discovered an increased pattern of brain activity in the amygdalas of adults with autism that may be linked to the social deficits that typically are associated with the disorder. Previous research at the UW and elsewhere has shown that abnormal growth patterns in the amygdala are commonly found among young children diagnosed with autism. ...> Full Article

Tiny brain region better part of valor (3/12/2009)

Piece of hypothalamus is key to animals' fear of territorial rivals and predators, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ...> Full Article

Scientists identify the neural circuitry of first impressions (3/10/2009)

Neuroscientists at New York University and Harvard University have identified the neural systems involved in forming first impressions of others. The findings, which show how we encode social information and then evaluate it in making these initial judgments, are reported in the most recent issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience. ...> Full Article

'Hub' of fear memory formation identified in brain cells (9/29/2008)

A protein required for the earliest steps in embryonic development also plays a key role in solidifying fear memories in the brains of adult animals ...> Full Article

Long-Term Cannabis Users May Have Structural Brain Abnormalities (6/3/2008)

Long-term, heavy cannabis use may be associated with structural abnormalities in areas of the brain known as the hippocampus and amygdala ...> Full Article

Hunger hormone makes food look more attractive (5/7/2008)

A new brain-imaging study reveals that ghrelin - a stomach hormone, acts on specific regions of the brain to enhance our response to food related cues and eating for pleasure. ...> Full Article

High anxiety? Research looks to brain & genes to improve treatment (4/25/2008)

The study showed that THC reduces the response to threat in a brain region called the amygdala ...> Full Article

Disgusting videos key to first-ever brain imaging study comparing ways of controlling emotions (3/19/2008)

Researchers have conducted the first-ever brain imaging study that directly contrasts two different techniques for emotion regulation. ...> Full Article

Cold, Unfeeling Traits Linked to Distinctive Brain Patterns in Kids with Severe Conduct Problems (2/21/2008)

Brain's Amygdala Region Less Responsive to Other People's Distress Signals ...> Full Article

Scientists Identify Brain Abnormalities Underlying Key Element of Borderline Personality Disorder (12/26/2007)

Using new approaches, an interdisciplinary team of scientists at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City has gained a view of activity in key brain areas associated with a core difficulty in patients with borderline personality disorder-shedding new light on this serious psychiatric condition. ...> Full Article