The Human Amygdala

Description

Building on pioneering animal studies, and making use of new, noninvasive techniques for studying the human brain, research on the human amygdala has blossomed in recent years. This comprehensive volume brings together leading authorities to synthesize current knowledge on the amygdala and its role in psychological function and dysfunction. Initial chapters discuss how animal models have paved the way for work with human subjects. Next, the book examines the amygdala's involvement in emotional processing, learning, memory, and social interaction. The final section presents key advances in understanding specific clinical disorders: anxiety disorders, depression, schizophrenia, autism, and Alzheimer's disease. Illustrations include 39 color plates.

Table of Contents

I. From Animal Models to Human Amygdala Function

1. Neuronatomy of the Primate Amygdala, Jennifer Freese and David G. Amaral
2. Animal Research on Organization and Function of the Amygdala, Joseph E. LeDoux and Daniela Schiller
3. Measurement of Fear Inhibition in Rats, Monkeys, and Humans with or without Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Using the AX+, BX-Paradigm, Karyn M. Myers, Donna J. Toufexis, James T. Winslow, Tanja Jovanovic, Seth D.
Norrholm, Erica J. Duncan, and Michael Davis
4. Amygdala Function in Positive Reinforcement: Contributions from Studies of Nonhuman Primates, Elisabeth A. Murray, Alicia Izquierdo, and Ludise Malkova

II. Human Amygdala Function

5. A Developmental Perspective on Human Amygdala Function, Nim Tottenham, Todd A. Hare, and B. J. Casey
6. Human Fear Conditioning and the Amygdala, Arne Öhman
7. Methodological Approaches to Studying the Human Amygdala, Kevin S. LaBar and Lauren H. Warren
8. The Human Amygdala and Memory, Stephan Hamann
9. Contributions of the Human Amygdala to Emotion-Cognition Interactions, Elizabeth A. Phelps
10. The Role of the Human Amygdala in Perception and Attention, Patrik Vuilleumier
11. Individual Differences in Human Amygdala Function, Turhan Canli
12. Human Amygdala Responses to Facial Expressions of Emotion, Paul J. Whalen, F. Caroline Davis, Jonathan A. Oler, Hackjin Kim, M. Justin Kim, and Maital Neta
13. The Human Amygdala in Social Function, Tony W. Buchanan, Daniel Tranel, and Ralph Adolphs

III. Human Amygdala Dysfunction

14. The Human Amygdala in Anxiety Disorders, Lisa M. Shin, Scott L. Rauch, Roger K. Pitman, and Paul J. Whalen
15. The Human Amygdala in Schizophrenia, Daphne J. Holt and Mary L. Phillips
16. The Human Amygdala in Autism, Cynthia Mills Schumann and David G. Amaral
17. The Human Amygdala in Normal Aging and Alzheimer's Disease, Christopher I. Wright
18. The Genetic Basis of Human Amygdala Reactivity, Ahmad R. Hariri and Daniel R. Weinberger

Edited by

Paul J. Whalen, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Dartmouth College. The focus of his research is to better understand the neural substrates of biologically relevant learning in humans. To this end, Dr. Whalen's laboratory studies the human amygdala as a model system for such learning. Specifically, he studies the response of the human amygdala to facial expressions of emotion to assess normal amygdala-prefrontal function, as well as aberrations in this circuitry in psychopathology.

Elizabeth A. Phelps, PhD, is Silver Professor of Psychology and Neural Science at New York University. Her laboratory has earned widespread acclaim for its groundbreaking research on how the human brain processes emotion, particularly as it relates to learning, memory, and decision making. Dr. Phelps is the recipient of the 21st Century Scientist Award from the James S. McDonnell Foundation and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Association for Psychological Science and the Society for Neuroethics, was President of the Society for Neuroeconomics, and is the current Editor of the journal Emotion.