Amygdala Essay

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Recommended: Explanation of the role of the amygdala

The amygdala is responsible for the perception of the emotions of fear, sadness, aggression, and anger. This brain structure stores memories of events and the emotions affiliated to them, so the person can recognize a similar event in the future. An example of this is, a person is burnt by a hot stove top, the next time around a hot stove they will be more fearful of the pain and be cautious next time. The amygdala can also process emotions of arousal and pleasure (The Amygdala, N.d).

There are many techniques used to view or measure the amygdala. One technique is through neuroimaging technology, where Psychologists can see different regions of the brain connect and communicate. One study was done where Psychologists used this technology to demonstrate white Americans who say there are free of prejudice, show differences in brain activity in the amygdala. They showed these white Americans pictures representing people of different racial groups and saw how the amygdala reacted. (Scanning the Brain, 2014). To measure the amygdala and its responses to pleasure, when the brain is being scanned, activity in the amygdala increases when they are sexually aroused (Grison & Gazzaniga, 2017, p. 56). Also, males who have low testosterone, tend to have smaller amygdalae which shows they will usually have a lower sex drive. …show more content…

People with damaged amygdalae are more likely to take bigger risks even if there is only a small potential gain (Moisse, 2010). If an amygdala is hyperactive or one is smaller than the other, a person may fear and anxiety disorders. Anxiety can lead to panic attacks that happen when the amygdala sends signals that the person is in danger even when there is no actual threat. Also, people with isolated lesions of the amygdala can have Urbach-Wiethe disease (a rare genetic disease) (Bailey,

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