Facing the role of the amygdala in emotional information processing
Open accessAbstract
The neurobiology of social information processing provides a fascinating window into human nature and how primate brains evolved to deal with challenges of living in large social groups. Faces and facial expressions of emotion are critical for social identification and for modulation of appropriate responding in social situations. The decoding of emotional information, and the subsequent integration of this information into choices about behavior appropriate to particular contexts, is an integral part of everyday human behavior. Although, for most humans, these systems may be primarily taxed now by reading emotional cues to avoid embarrassing faux pas in social situations, evolutionary pressure to develop these systems likely emphasized rapid and reliable detection of threats. Hadj-Bouziane et al. (1), in PNAS, make remarkable strides in understanding these neural mechanisms, by using an unusual and powerful combination of methodologies in a study of rhesus monkeys.
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The amygdala is involved in stimulus-value association, recognition of emotionally salient stimuli, and orchestration of an appropriate behavioral response.
“On the other hand, the amygdala is involved in stimulus-value association, recognition of emotionally salient stimuli, and orchestration of an appropriate behavioral response (Phelps and LeDoux 2005; Paton et al. 2006; Baxter and Croxson 2012).”
From Neuroanatomical correlates of peripersonal space: bridging the gap between perception, action, emotion and social cognition (2024) · cites this paper as Baxter and Croxson 2012
The opening section (pp. 21180–21181) describes the amygdala's involvement in detecting threats, recognizing emotional facial expressions, and activating appropriate fear-related behavior. The section on amygdala damage also discusses attention to stimuli with uncertain consequences, but the paper does not establish the claimed role in forming stimulus–value associations. (LLM, conf=0.84)
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Cites
Distant influences of amygdala lesion on visual cortical activation during emotional face processing
Vuilleumier, P., Richardson, M. P., Armony, J. L., Driver, J., & Dolan, R. J. (2004) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn1341 · Cited by 955 · see citing works
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Hoffman, K. L., Gothard, K. M., Schmid, M. C., & Logothetis, N. K. (2007) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2007.03.040 · Cited by 258 · see citing works
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Research works printed but not linked: 11
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Basile, G. A., Tatti, E., Bertino, S., Milardi, D., Genovese, G., Bruno, A., Muscatello, M. R. A., Ciurleo, R., Cerasa, A., Quartarone, A., et al. (2024) · Brain Structure and Function · doi:10.1007/s00429-024-02781-9 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
“On the other hand, the amygdala is involved in stimu-lus-value association, recognition of emotionally salient stimuli, and orchestration of an appropriate behavioral response (Phelps and LeDoux 2005; Paton et al. 2006; Baxter and Croxson 2012).”
Background
- Authors
- Baxter, M. G., & Croxson, P. L.
- Affiliations
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (US)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2012-12-14
- Volume
- 109
- Issue
- 52
- Pages
- 21180-21181
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC3535668
- OpenAlex
- W2033725479
- Cited by
- 55
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 13 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2017: 2 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 0.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Keywords
- amygdala, emotional processing, emotions, emotional memory, fear
- MeSH terms
- Amygdala, Animals, Evoked Potentials, Facial Expression, Macaca mulatta, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Temporal Lobe
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