As outlined in the previous post, Ralph Adolphs and I have written a critique of the idea that a subcortical pathway conveys affective information to the amygdala in a rapid, automatic fashion. Our argument can be summarized as follows (details are provided in the paper): Affective information is not processed faster than other types of [...]
Filed under: Amygdala, subcortical pathway | Leave a Comment »
The processing of affective information has many attributes that make it special, such as speed, and relative independence from attention and awareness. A key question, therefore, both from basic and applied perspectives is how this happens. An extraordinarily popular account is that a so-called low road from the retina via the superior colliculus and pulvinar [...]
Filed under: Amygdala, attention, subcortical pathway | Tagged: amygdala, attention, pulvinar, subcortical pathway, vision | 1 Comment »
An extremely interesting aspect of amygdala function is that mild electrical stimulation of this structure produces an “orienting response”. As described originally by Kaada and colleagues, “the animal usually raises its head and looks in an inquisitive manner”. The original photos by Kaada are quite revealing, as shown here in this drawing. I suggest that [...]
Filed under: Amygdala | Tagged: amygdala, attention | Leave a Comment »
In this Blog I will discuss ongoing issues related to cognitive-emotional interactions in terms of brain and behavior. Mostly, I’ll discuss some of my ongoing research and related ideas and, occasionally, I’ll write an entry related to other published papers of interest. In this first post, I’ll comment on a recent review that I wrote [...]
Filed under: Amygdala | Tagged: amygdala, attention, decision making, value | 1 Comment »
