Amygdala 🧠
The amygdala is a walnut-shaped area—one on either side of the brain—resposible for scanning the environment for threats and talking with other areas of the brain to decide how one should handle it. How the amygdala interacts with the rest of the brain in response to stress determines how you respond. Stress is inevitable. It’s the amygdala scanning the scene and how it connects with our other emotions that determines whether we will be safe or sorry. This occurs before we are conscious of the stimuli.
When a threat is detected by the amygdala, several things occur. First, the amygdala activates the sympathetic nervous system. Second, the amygdala activates the HPA axis sequence. Third, the amygdala is normally in reciprocal communication with the hippocampus. When your amygdala figures out that an experience is not a good one, that information ends up stored by the hippocampus.
References
- Lustig, H., Robert. (2017). The Hacking of the American Mind Chapter 4. Killing Jiminy Stress, Fear, and Cortisol (Location 845). New York, NY: Penguin Random House.
Metadata
Type:🔵 Tags: Biology / Neuroscience / Anatomy / Neuroanatomy Status:☀️