Amygdala Function
The amygdala has many functions. It seems to act as a processing factory. It processes many things like memories, emotions, and responses to the environment.
The amygdala gets messages from all over the body and outside of the body through our senses. It takes the information and processes it to create an appropriate response to the messages it receives. When it is stimulated, it can cause intense responses of emotions. The amygdala is associated with:
- Arousal
- Autonomic responses
- Fear
- Emotional responses
- Hormonal secretions
- Memory
Emotions
The amygdala is part of the limbic system of the brain, which is involved with emotions and other reactions to stimuli. The amygdala is a processing center that is hooked up to receive incoming messages from our senses and our internal organs. It is highly involved with different emotional responses.
Fear is one of the responses that the amygdala is associated with. Responses to fear can include an increased heart rate, increased muscle tension, sweaty yet cold palms, and, at times, even nausea and diarrhea. These physical reactions get the body and mind ready for a fight or flight reaction. A fight or flight reaction is an internal defense mechanism to prepare the body and mind to get out of harm's way.
There are times when the amygdala takes a fearful situation and doesn't let go of it. These situations are usually extreme, such as fighting in a war. When the amygdala refuses to let go of this situation it may place the body in constant, or chronic, fight or flight mode. This type of disorder is known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Along with emotions, the amygdala processes memories. It filters the memories with the different emotional responses involved with the memory. The amygdala decides which memories it will keep and where the brain will store these memories. The more emotion attached to the memory, the more likely the amygdala will clear it for storage.
Let's use the emotions from a wedding as an example of this memory processing. The emotions attached to a bride's wedding are very strong (hopefully positive). The amygdala will sense this intense response to this day and give the memory a thumbs-up to pass into storage. It will send the memory to the hippocampus, another structure in the limbic system, which sends the memory into the proper storage box in the brain.
Lesson Summary
The amygdala is the structure handling the processing of the emotions, memories, and motivation and can be found in the brain's temporal lobe. It's part of the limbic system, which is made up of various brain structures that are located above the brain stem and is highly involved with our emotions, feelings of pleasure, and memories. When you experience fear, your amygdala is responsible when your palms are cold but sweating, your heart is beating so fast that you grab your chest to make sure it stays inside, and when you feel sick to your stomach (this is the fight or flight response, something that sufferers of PTSD experience at inopportune times).
What is happening is that all of your senses are sending messages via nerves from your senses, which are taking information from outside of your body, and from the some of the organs inside your body. The amygdala takes these messages and processes them to create responses.
The amygdala also processes memories and decides which ones it wants to keep and where these memories should be stored. It does this by working with the hippocampus, another structure in the limbic system, which sends the memory into the proper storage box in the brain. The amygdala is also associated with other functions that involve reacting to different stimuli. Pretty impressive for a tiny little nut!
