Biological Explanation - Role of the Amygdala Flashcards
Explain structure and formation of the amygdala…
Made up of ‘grey matter’, and is located in the medical temporal lobe, and is part of the limbic system
Highly linked and has widespread influence on brain functioning and behaviours, and plays a major role in how we assess and respond to environmental threats, hence its importance in determining aggressive behaviour
Explain amygdala and aggression…
Emil Coccaro et al (2007) investigated effects of amygdala and aggression by studying people with intermittent explosive disorder (IED), where participants viewed images of faces while having an fMRI on their brain
Those with IED showed high levels of amygdala activity when viewing angry faces, demonstrating an association between amygdala activity and processing of aggressive emotions
Explain amygdala and fear conditioning…
Learn as children that aggressive behaviour leads to punishment however, dysfunction of the amygdala means that a child does not link punishment with their behaviour, meaning fear conditioning is disrupted; individual seems fearless, overly aggressive and antisocial
Yu Gao and colleagues (2010) conducted a longitudinal study where 1,795 participants were tested, and the measure used was physiological arousal in response to painful noise, with participants that had no fear conditioning had committed crimes 20 years later, suggesting a relationship
