Brief Communication abstract
Nature Neuroscience 12, 1224 - 1225 (2009)
Published online: 30 August 2009 | doi:10.1038/nn.2380
Intact rapid detection of fearful faces in the absence of the amygdala
Naotsugu Tsuchiya1,2,5, Farshad Moradi1,4,5, Csilla Felsen1, Madoka Yamazaki3 & Ralph Adolphs1,3
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.
- Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA.
- Brain Science Institute, Tamagawa University, Machida, Tokyo, Japan.
- Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA.
- Present address: Department of Radiology, University of California San Diego, San Diego, California, USA.
- These authors contributed equally to this study.
Correspondence to: Naotsugu Tsuchiya1,2,5 e-mail: naotsu@gmail.com
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