Human Amygdala Responsivity to Masked Fearful Eye Whites

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 306; no. 5704; p. 2061
• Main Authors: Whalen, Paul J, Kagan, Jerome, Cook, Robert G, Davis, F. Caroline, Kim, Hackjin, Polis, Sara, McLaren, Donald G, Somerville, Leah H, McLean, Ashly A, Maxwell, Jeffrey S, Johnstone, Tom
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 17.12.2004; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Adult; Amygdala; Amygdala (Brain); Amygdala - physiology; Anatomical correlates of behavior; Behavioral neuroscience; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Brain; Brevia; Emotions; Face; Facial Expression; Facial expressions; Fear; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gender Differences; Happiness; Humans; Information Processing; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Neurology; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Perceptual Masking; Physiological aspects; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Resistance (Psychology); Sclera; Stimuli; Whites; Human; Eye; Visual system; Fear; Visual stimulus; Amygdala; Central nervous system; Mask; Basal ganglion; Encephalon
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1103617

The amygdala was more responsive to fearful (larger) eye whites than to happy (smaller) eye whites presented in a masking paradigm that mitigated subjects' awareness of their presence and aberrant nature. These data demonstrate that the amygdala is responsive to elements of biologically relevant configural stimuli.