A new study reveals a new hypothesis about the role the amygdala plays in the experience and perception of fear. Researchers say, instead of directly mediating fear, the amygdala is involved in a person's ability to attend to the whites of another person's widening eyes, something that is more generally important to social functioning.
The hippocampus and amygdala directly exchange signals in order to recognize emotional stimuli and encode them into memories, researchers report.
Researchers have discovered a method to prolong the benefits of extinction and identified a new way to improve exposure therapy in people suffering from phobias and PTSD.