Amygdala

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What exactly are all of the functions of the amygdala? I know that people with AS tend to have smaller amygdalae. What traits of AS does this explain?

Hi kingtut3,

I sometimes wonder if the "emotional flatness" I'm often labeled with in informal social situations isn't from inadvertent conditioning with neurological impairments, or if it is a direct neurological impairment, both which involve the Limbic Systems and Temporal Lobes of the brain.

I have temporal lobe epilepsy, and some of the aura seizures seem to focus on the right amygdala, and with the anterior commissure as the most likely connector, wafting to the left amygdala at times. From another posting: I especially liked articles like "Amygdala depotentiation and fear extinction," since my early childhood auras were often just very intense sensations of fear, totally independent of the environment and any activities; the "fear" associated with aversive conditioning (unique stimulus, then intensely painful electrical shock, which still hasn't "extinguished" after more than 30 years) is very different than the epileptic aura of fear. Then the less frequent aura of ecstatic bliss, with the much less frequent bland aura, are all totally independent of the environment and any activities; all the secondary effects are mainly disruptions of otherwise well-learned behaviours from schedules of reinforcement, the only exceptions being very rare synesthesia associated at times with bland aura.

From discussions about the "God Helmet" at: http://www.shaktitechnology.com/shiva/G ... ciples.htm

"The amygdala on the right is specialized for fear and anxiety. The amygdala on the left is specialized for more 'self-affirming' emotions, most importantly happiness, bliss, and elation. Working together with other structures, the amygdala on the right is specialized for sadness, and also working together with other structures, the amygdala on the left is specialized for irritability. These structures have a wide range of functions, most of them carried out with contributions from other brain parts."

Tadzio

P.S.: The amygdala and the hippocampus appear to be the two easiest pair of couple of things to play with in the brain using electromagnetic fields. With plenty of warnings, but Dr. Persinger even warns against meditation when dealing with many DSM categories. "By itself, the amygdala on the right can produce a state of fear so intense that when epileptics feel it in the course of their seizures, they describe it as 'a feeling of impending doom'. Actually, it's only in the epileptics that the amygdala can act on its own, and even then (the) amygdala is so active that other structures nearby cannot keep up with it, so it can perform 'as though' it were working on its own." Ibid.

The amygdala causes reactions to emotion, but has ALSO been linked to building muscle, and remembering things. I recently saw a program thaat made it sound like the amygdala was only to cause destructive emotion, but that is HOGWASH! They ALSO said the frontal lobe limits the amygdala, which is ALSO wrong. In fact, interestingly, people sometimes removed the frontal lobe to LIMIT reaction!

The TRUTH is simply that the amygdala reacts to certain events, and the frontal lobe is used for ANY planning. If it were removed, the planning would be pretty non existant. If it were damaged, planning would be limited.(They might commit murder for a big offense) If it were healthy, planning could be complex(That big offense may be met with shunning or some charge later) Sometimes people just don't realize the difference between the cause and effect.

It is suggested that abnormalities in the amygdala in childhood have an effect on the developmental trajectory of the social brain and behaviour, resulting in lifelong differences in social cognition.

A heightened emotional response to direct gaze is proposed to result in reduced eye-contact, leading to less attention to social cues from the face and eyes and, therefore, difficulties reading mental states and emotions. Studies on this produce mixed results, with some showing normal attention to social information in adolescents and adults. However, this may have developed with age and, in addition, there may be very subtle attentional differences present that have a large effect in real-life social situations.

Wow. Thanks so much for posting this Tadzio. This leads to me to believe that I have an unusually lopsided amygdala. My right amygdala seems extremely deficient, in that fear, anxiety, intimidation and sadness are emotions that I rarely feel. Sometimes, I even wonder if I know what sadness is. On the other hand, I easily and regularly feel happiness, bliss and elation. I also feel irritability, and recall being asked about ever getting angry and replying that "I feel irritation, but that is not the same as anger". I have never discussed this with anyone because I assumed they would think I was posing (or just nuts) if I said that I regularly felt bliss and almost never fear and anxiety. This could explain so much.