Intact rapid detection of fearful faces in the absence of the amygdala
- 30 August 2009
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Nature in Nature Neuroscience
- Vol. 12 (10) , 1224-1225
- https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2380
Abstract
The amygdala is thought to process fear-related stimuli rapidly and nonconsciously. Here, the authors report that an individual with complete lesion of the amygdala shows normal rapid detection and nonconscious processing of fearful faces, despite being unable to recognize fear from faces. The amygdala is thought to process fear-related stimuli rapidly and nonconsciously. We found that an individual with complete bilateral amygdala lesions, who cannot recognize fear from faces, nonetheless showed normal rapid detection and nonconscious processing of those same fearful faces. We conclude that the amygdala is not essential for early stages of fear processing but, instead, modulates recognition and social judgment.Keywords
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