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Cited by 403Memory and Neural MechanismsNeural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes

Emotion and cognition and the amygdala: From “what is it?” to “what's to be done?”

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Pessoa, Luiz·2010·Neuropsychologia
DOI 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.06.038PMC PMC2949460
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Abstract

The amygdala is a fascinating, complex structure that lies at the center of much of our current thinking about emotion. Here, I will review data that suggest that the amygdala is involved in several processes linked to determining what a stimulus is and what the organism should therefore do - the two questions that are part of the title. This piece will focus on three main aspects of amygdala function, namely attention, value representation, and decision making, by reviewing both non-human and human data. Two mechanisms of affective attention will be described. The first involves projections from the central nucleus of the amygdala to the basal forebrain, which has extensive and diffuse projections throughout the cortical mantle. The second involves projections from the basal amygdala to multiple levels across the visual cortex. I will also describe how the basolateral amygdala is important for the representation of value and in decision making. Overall, it will be argued that the amygdala plays a key role in solving the following problem: How can a limited-capacity information processing system that receives a constant stream of diverse inputs be designed to selectively process those inputs that are most significant to the objectives of the system? "What is it?" and "What's to be done?" processes can then be viewed as important building blocks in the construction of emotion, a process that is intertwined with cognition. Furthermore, answering the two questions directs how resources should be mobilized as the organism seeks out additional information from the environment.

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  • Before the central amygdala can exert its inhibitory effect on the hypothalamus, it receives glutamatergic or excitatory input from the basolateral amygdala, which has been implicated in pavlovian learning and receives input from the parietal, cingulate, and prefrontal cortices.

    “Before the CeA can exert its inhibitory effect on the hypothalamus, it receives glutamatergic or excitatory input from the basolateral amygdala (BLA), which has been implicated in pavlovian learning and receives input from the parietal, cingulate, and prefrontal cortices (Pessoa, 2010; Nuss, 2015).”

    From The Epigenetics of Anxiety Pathophysiology: A DNA Methylation and Histone Modification Focused Review (2023) · cites this paper as Pessoa, 2010

    Split into 2 atoms — 1 confirmed, 1 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.

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  • Viral overexpression of mutant FKBP51 in the basolateral amygdala elicited anxiety-like behaviors in mice.

    “In a follow-up study, researchers virally overexpressed mutant FKBP51 in the BLA, which is involved in pavlovian fear learning and receives sensory input from the parietal, cingulate, and prefrontal cortices, elicited anxiety-like behaviors in mice (Pessoa, 2010; Hartmann et al., 2015).”

    From The Epigenetics of Anxiety Pathophysiology: A DNA Methylation and Histone Modification Focused Review (2023) · cites this paper as Pessoa, 2010

    The Introduction’s “Amygdala: Definition and Anatomy” section supports the background description of the basolateral amygdala’s role in Pavlovian learning and its connections with parietal, cingulate, and prefrontal cortices. It does not report viral overexpression of mutant FKBP51 or show that this manipulation elicited anxiety-like behavior in mice; its mouse anxiety example in “Vigilance, arousal, and ambiguity” concerns unpredictable sounds instead. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The hippocampus facilitates contextual fear learning, which underlies the anxiety phenotype.

    “The hippocampus facilitates contextual fear learning, which underlies the anxiety phenotype (Pessoa, 2010; Zhang et al., 2014).”

    From The Epigenetics of Anxiety Pathophysiology: A DNA Methylation and Histone Modification Focused Review (2023) · cites this paper as Pessoa, 2010

    The Introduction discusses the amygdala’s involvement in fear conditioning, and “Vigilance, arousal, and ambiguity” describes anxiety-related behavior associated with amygdala processing. Neither passage links hippocampal contextual fear learning to an anxiety phenotype. Searches for “hippocampus,” “contextual fear,” and “anxiety phenotype” found no passage making that claim; the hippocampus appears only in reference entries. (LLM, conf=0.76)

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References 113 · Cited by 403

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Authors
Pessoa, L.
Affiliations
Indiana University Bloomington (US)
Corresponding author
Pessoa, Luiz
ORCID
Pessoa, Luiz
Venue
Neuropsychologia
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2010-10
Volume
48
Issue
12
Pages
3416-3429
ISSN
0028-3932 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.06.038
PMC
PMC2949460
OpenAlex
W2081297347
Cited by
403
References
113
Citations by year
2026: 25 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 23 · 2014: 49 · 2013: 26 · 2012: 26
FWCI
1.60
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Neuropsychologia (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH071589)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
Keywords
amygdala, emotions, attention, value representation, decision-making, emotional attention, central amygdala, basal amygdala, basolateral amygdala, visual cortex, basal forebrain, emotion-cognition interaction, stimulus significance
MeSH terms
Amygdala, Animals, Attention, Cognition, Decision Making, Emotions, Humans

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