If the amygdala is constantly monitoring something as subtle as changes in the facial expressions of others, then it can play a pivotal role in the individual differences we see in how reactive some people are to the social signals of others compared to their peers. The implications of this for healthy interpersonal interactions are enormous. For example, if amygdala reactions were overly sensitive to the facial reactions of others, one might take a simple facial movement of a friend, one that was not intended to convey disapproval, as a certain slight.
Aberrant amygdala reactions could play a part in exacerbating a host of psychopathologies. Indeed, numerous studies have identified abnormal amygdala responses to facial expressions across a variety of psychopathologies involving emotional dysfunction such as major depression, anxiety disorders, phobias, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and autism. More importantly, amygdala responses to facial expressions have been used to predict treatment outcomes in both depression and generalized anxiety disorder with lower pretreatment levels of amygdala response predicting better treatment outcomes.
Read more: Face to Face with the Emotional Brain - The Scientist - Magazine of the Life Sciences
Aberrant amygdala reactions could play a part in exacerbating a host of psychopathologies. Indeed, numerous studies have identified abnormal amygdala responses to facial expressions across a variety of psychopathologies involving emotional dysfunction such as major depression, anxiety disorders, phobias, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and autism. More importantly, amygdala responses to facial expressions have been used to predict treatment outcomes in both depression and generalized anxiety disorder with lower pretreatment levels of amygdala response predicting better treatment outcomes.
Read more: Face to Face with the Emotional Brain - The Scientist - Magazine of the Life Sciences
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