---

• n  an almond-shaped neural structure in the anterior part of the temporal lobe of the cerebrum; intimately connected with the hypothalamus and the hippocampus and the cingulate gyrus; as part of the limbic system it plays an important role in motivation and emotional behavior

• It may turn out that some anxiety disorders are caused by an overactive amygdala (the accelerator) while others are caused by an underactive prefrontal cortex (call it the brake).
• In addition to the amygdala, there are three other anatomical hot spots involved in the disorder: the orbital frontal cortex, the caudate nucleus and the thalamus--the first two .
• If they do, the cortex signals the amygdala, and the body stays on alert.

• amygdaloid nucleus
• corpus amygdaloideum

News & Articles

---

• Brain's 'dark side' as key to cocaine addiction
  Scientists have found evidence that an emotion-related brain region called the central amygdala —- whose activity promotes feelings of malaise and unhappiness —- plays a major role in sustaining cocaine addiction.
  June 12, 2013 - Science Daily
• Team Points to Brain's 'Dark Side' as Key to Cocaine Addiction
  Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have found evidence that an emotion-related brain region called the central amygdala--whose activity promotes feelings of malaise and unhappiness--plays a major role in sustaining cocaine addiction.
  June 12, 2013 - Newswise
• Scripps Research Institute team points to brain's 'dark side' as key to cocaine addiction
  ( Scripps Research Institute ) Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have found evidence that an emotion-related brain region called the central amygdala -- whose activity promotes feelings of malaise and unhappiness -- plays a major role in sustaining cocaine addiction.
  June 12, 2013 - EurekAlert!

Quotes

---

• Joseph LeDoux in Wired News
  Because the regions of the brain that are involved in voluntary control have little connectivity with areas like the amygdala involved in certain involuntary primitive emotions, those emotions are very hard to control,LeDoux wrote in an email.
• Antonio Damasio in Science Daily (press release)
  That the amygdala is critical for recognizing fear expressions has been evident from prior studies,said Antonio Damasio, MD, Ph.D., the Maurice Van Allen Professor and head of neurology at the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of...
• Richard Davidson in University of Wisconsin-Madison University Communications
  The amygdala has a role to play in some of the symptoms of autism,says Davidson.