AMYGDALA (amygdalae)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: amygdalae   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does amygdala mean? 

• AMYGDALA (noun)
  The noun AMYGDALA has 1 sense:

1. an almond-shaped neural structure in the anterior part of the temporal lobe of the cerebrum; intimately connected with the hypothalamus and the hippocampus and the cingulate gyrus; as part of the limbic system it plays an important role in motivation and emotional behavior

  Familiarity information: AMYGDALA used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• AMYGDALA (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An almond-shaped neural structure in the anterior part of the temporal lobe of the cerebrum; intimately connected with the hypothalamus and the hippocampus and the cingulate gyrus; as part of the limbic system it plays an important role in motivation and emotional behavior

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

amygdala; amygdaloid nucleus; corpus amygdaloideum

Hypernyms ("amygdala" is a kind of...):

basal ganglion (any of several masses of subcortical grey matter at the base of each cerebral hemisphere that seem to be involved in the regulation of voluntary movement)

Holonyms ("amygdala" is a part of...):

temporal cortex; temporal lobe (that part of the cerebral cortex in either hemisphere of the brain lying inside the temples of the head)

limbic brain; limbic system; visceral brain (a system of functionally related neural structures in the brain that are involved in emotional behavior)

 Context examples 

Of the four groups of animals under study, a reduction in aversion was only observed in the group with lesions in the basolateral complex of the amygdala.

(Researchers identify area of the amygdala involved in taste aversion, University of Granada)

Surprisingly, the researchers found that when an animal observed its partner, the observer’s amygdala neurons seemed to play out a decision computation.

(‘Mindreading’ neurons simulate decisions of social partners, University of Cambridge)

Researchers at Harvard University in Massachusetts have discovered a brain structure, called the amygdala, is more active in people who suffer from chronic stress.

(Biological Link Found Between Stress, Heart Disease, VOA)

This pattern involved what scientists described as neuroflexibility, in a circuit between the brain’s medial prefrontal cortex and forebrain regions including the ventral striatum, extended amygdala, and hippocampus during sustained stress exposure.

(Researchers identify brain circuits that help people cope with stress, NIH)

The amygdala’s ‘rejection signal’ was strongest in participants who were more likely to refuse gifts from artificial agents.

(Scientists identify possible source of the ‘Uncanny Valley’ in the brain, University of Cambridge)

The researchers say this shows the amygdala is likely to control hunting and biting behavior across many or all jawed vertebrates.

(Geneticists produce laser-activated killer mice, Wikinews)

It is connected with the hippocampus, hypothalamus and amygdala.

(Nucleus of Diagonal Band, NCI Thesaurus)

The researchers found that levels of 103 miRNAs were different in the amygdala and 31 in the prefrontal cortex of mice reared without gut bacteria (GF mice) compared to conventional mice.

(New Light on Link between Gut Bacteria, Anxiety, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The amygdala is part of the limbic system.

(Amygdala, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

This allele, which encodes UPF0606 protein KIAA1549, may involved in the modulation of the activity of the amygdala, the hypothalamus and other brain regions.

(KIAA1549 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)