Researchers find that the amygdala is a sophisticated mediator that chooses between action-based and stimulus-based learning ...

I’ve been studying the amygdala for more than 30 years. When I started this work, research on this brain region was a lonely field of inquiry. The hippocampus was all the rage, and I sometimes felt ...

A Dartmouth study challenges the conventional view that the amygdala—the two-sided structure deep in the brain involved in emotion, learning, and decision making—is simply the brain's primitive "fear ...

To ensure we get the calories and hydration we need, the brain relies on a complex network of cells, signals, and pathways to guide us when to eat, drink, or stop. Yet, much about how the brain ...

In our brains there is a structure called the amygdala. It is within our medial temporal lobe, shaped something like an almond, and has been widely studied due to the important role it plays in human ...

Humans explore unfamiliar options more when deciding how to avoid losses than when seeking gains. The firing rate of neuronal cells in the brain’s amygdala predicts decisions to explore in both ...

The brain’s primitive “fear center” may be much more than that, as new research on the amygdala suggests it plays a crucial role in learning, emotion, and decision-making. Researchers from Dartmouth ...

“Fear can freeze us in place, push us to fight or flee, or even drive us to seek comfort in others,” said Ashley Reno, Psy.D., associate professor and chief psychologist in the University of Alabama ...

Discover how stress science explains the long-term cortisol effects on the brain and body, and what mental health biology reveals about managing chronic stress naturally.