Synonyms
Amygdaloid Complex; nociceptive processing in the amygdala, behavioral and pharmacological studies
Definition
The amygdala is an almond shaped structure in the ventromedial temporal lobe that constitutes part of the brain’s limbic system. It comprises several neuroanatomically and functionally distinct nuclei with widespread connections to and from a variety of cortical and subcortical brain regions.
Characteristics
In a general sense, the amygdala plays a prominent role in the coordination of defense reactions to environmental threats (LeDoux 2003). The hypothesized role of the amygdala in emotional information processing represents one component in this overall role. Clearly, environmental threats are diverse and include the animate (e.g. extraspecies predators, intraspecies rivals) and inanimate (e.g. thorns or spines on plants). Stimuli signaling the presence of threats can be “natural” elicitors of the psychological state of fear such as a sudden, novel sound or the...
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© 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Manning, B. (2007). Amygdala, Pain Processing and Behavior in Animals. In: Schmidt, R., Willis, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Pain. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29805-2_192
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29805-2_192
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-43957-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-29805-2
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