The amygdala

The amygdala

The amygdala is part of the limbic system of a brain that is responsible for detecting fear and preparing for emergencies. It functions independently from the limbic system. The amygdala is responsible for emotions such as fear, aggression, and sadness. Moreover, it helps to store memories of events for reference in the future (Amygdala – YouTube. (n.d.) It also plays a role in sexual activity and libido. Amygdala changes in size and shape based on the age, gender, and hormone activity of an individual.

When the amygdala of an individual is damaged, it affects some of their cognitive and emotional performance. A damaged amygdala will interfere with my everyday memory. Two forms of memory impairments may result from a damaged amygdala (Fine & Blair, 2000). It may make me acquire a conditional fear. This will make me have impairments in conditioned responding to negative conditioned stimuli. The second memory impairment that I will incur is the declarative emotion memory. A normal amygdala enhances a better recall of emotional material than neutral materials (Fine & Blair, 2000). When my amygdala is damaged, it will not show this enhancement of emotional memory. As a result, I will forget easily, absent-minded, and will be fearful most of my time.

The consolidation process in other brain regions will also be disrupted by the amygdala damage (Fine & Blair, 2000). The amygdala is an area that causes aggression. With lesions of my amygdala, my competitive drive and aggressive behavior will be reduced. The hypothalamus part of the brain that is believed to play a regulatory role in aggression will also be affected. This may part a fit of informed anger that may intend me to hurt someone for no good genuine reason. I may face serious mental issues such as posttraumatic stress and depression.

However, a damaged amygdala may not affect some of my normal behaviors. My interpretations to touch, vision, and hearing, as well as speech, will not be interfered. This is because the brain structures work interdependently that the other parts of the brain will perform and maintain the behaviors mentioned above.

Reference

Fine, C., & Blair, R. J. R. (2000). The cognitive and emotional effects of amygdala damage. Neurocase, 6(6), 435-450.

2-Minute Neuroscience: Amygdala – YouTube. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVvMSwsOXPw