Personal space regulation by the human amygdala
Open accessAbstract
The amygdala plays key roles in emotion and social cognition, but how this translates to face-to-face interactions involving real people remains unknown. We found that an individual with complete amygdala lesions lacked any sense of personal space. Furthermore, healthy individuals showed amygdala activation upon close personal proximity. The amygdala may be required to trigger the strong emotional reactions normally following personal space violations, thus regulating interpersonal distance in humans.
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Patients with bilateral amygdala lesions show a marked reduction of interpersonal distance.
“Patients with bilateral amygdala lesions show a marked reduction of interpersonal distance (Kennedy et al., 2009).”
From The Peripersonal Space in a social world (2021) · cites this paper as Kennedy et al., 2009
The paper’s Abstract reports that SM, a patient with complete bilateral amygdala damage, preferred a significantly smaller interpersonal distance than comparison subjects (0.34 m versus 0.76 m). The claim generalizes this finding to patients in the plural, but the paper studied only one lesion patient. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe distance governing social interactions is ubiquitous, present with some variations across the animal kingdom and in humans.
“This distance governing social interactions is a ubiquitous entity, present with some variations across the animal kingdom and in humans”
From The Peripersonal Space in a social world (2021) · cites this paper as Kennedy, Gl€ ascher, Tyszka, & Adolphs, 2009
The amygdala may be important for the regulation of personal space.
“The amygdala may be important for this regulation (Kennedy et al., 2009)”
From Oxytocin Modulates Social Distance between Males and Females (2012) · cites this paper as Kennedy et al., 2009
Amygdala damage affects subtle social skills such as personal space and eye contact during conversations.
“amygdala damage affects subtle social skills such as people’s sense of personal space [34] or their use of eye contact during conversations [35]”
From The social motivation theory of autism (2012) · cites this paper as [34]
Amygdala lesions dramatically reduce the need for interpersonal distance, and amygdala activity in healthy individuals is correlated with feeling uncomfortable at a close interpersonal distance.
“Research has shown that lesions to the amygdala dramatically reduce the need for interpersonal distance, and that amygdala activity in healthy individuals is correlated with feeling uncomfortable at a close interpersonal distance (Kennedy et al., 2009).”
From OT promotes closer interpersonal distance among highly empathic individuals (2015) · cites this paper as Kennedy et al., 2009
Abnormal perception or regulation of interpersonal distance has been linked with social dysfunction.
“Abnormal perception or regulation of interpersonal distance has been linked with social dysfunction (28).”
From Placebo treatment facilitates social trust and approach behavior (2018) · cites this paper as [28]
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- Authors
- Kennedy, D. P., Gläscher, J., Tyszka, J. M., & Adolphs, R.
- Affiliations
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kennedy, Daniel P
- Venue
- Nature Neuroscience
- Published
- 2009-08-30
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1226-1227
- ISSN
- 1097-6256 (ISSN-L)
- 1546-1726
- PMC
- PMC2753689
- OpenAlex
- W2126866281
- Cited by
- 450
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2026: 22 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 48 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 29 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 34 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 33 · 2013: 28 · 2012: 20
- FWCI
- 9.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- CaltechAUTHORS (California Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH080721)
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (P01NS019632)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Keywords
- personal space, amygdala, interpersonal distance, social cognition, social interaction, amygdala activation
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adolescent, Adult, Amygdala, Analysis of Variance, Brain Injuries, Emotions, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Interpersonal Relations, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Photic Stimulation, Space Perception, Time Factors, Case-Control Studies, Recognition, Psychology, Young Adult
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