where is the amygdala located?
The amygdala is part of the limbic system which directs how we react to threatening situations.
what did Raine et al find regarding the amygdala?
Raine et al found reduced metabolic activity in several brain areas of psychopathic murderers, including the left amygdala
what does the left amygdala allow us to do?
The left side of out amygdala allows us to detect danger using the retrieval of emotional memories via rewards and punishments
what do criminals struggle to do
may struggle to associate negative emotions (fear or guilt) with past experiences and consequences
what’s the impact of being unable to detect danger?
allows us to act on those violent impulses and are unable to detect punishment, furthermore leading to higher rates of recidivism
what is the right side of the amygdala associated with?
The right side is associated with negative emotion in processing of fear inducing stimuli as well as reacting physically
what does it mean to have higher activity in the right amygdala?
unable to associate negative emotion with fear inducing stimuli meaning we cannot react on the fear of consequences such as being caught/ sentenced in prison, and will therefore react irrationally
what did Yang use fMRI scans to measure?
amygdala differences in psychopaths and a control group
what did yang find?
Found that people with psychopathy had volume reductions on both left and right amygdala
smaller volumes seemed to correlate to more anti-social behaviour and less control
what does anti-social behaviour lead to?
anti-social behaviour leads to failure in learning the social consequences
what did further research investigate?
relationship between amygdala size and aggression, using scanning techniques
found a highly significant negative correlation
what does reduced amygdala volume effect our ability to do?
to react to our emotions, potentially inflicting irrationality and stress
which leads to amygdala hijack where the amygdala overrides the PFC
what does the PFC help to do?
rationalize and control the impulses of the amygdala
how can amygdala hijack effect the PFC function?
when overridden by the amygdala it can induce poor judgement of situations (knowing when it is acceptable to act aggressively), poor perception of this can inflict violence
what is a weakness of this explanation?
unlikely the amygdala works in isolation to cause aggressive behaviour
other processes involved, making this a reductionist view
what’d did Derntl use fMRI scans to investigate?
the effects of testosterone in amygdala activity in healthy males
what did Derntl find?
found that increased testosterone improved the amygdala’s ability to process threat-related stimuli such as facial expressions
this enforces more automatic and autonomic processes involved
what did Larson look at?
the importance of brain structure involved in emotion regulation and violence
what did Larson find?
Found that too little or too much activation of the amygdala may contribute towards excessive negative affects or decreasing sensitivity to social cues that regulate emotion
how does Larson support the theory?
findings supports the link that abnormal amygdala activity has on understanding emotions that we and other people feel
what is the amygdala important in allowing us to do?
feel certain emotions as well as perceiving them in other people e.g. fear and how the body responds to it (fight or flight)
why is feeling and perceiving emotions an issue is faulty or damaged?
If this is faulty or damaged, then we are unable to understand/ feel emotions linking to emotional memory
resulting in a lack of remorse and guilt and are unable to learn from consequences of previous crimes and increases recidivism rates
what questions can we raise regarding this explanation?
raises the question on whether the defects in the amygdala come first, leading the criminal behaviour or is it that criminal behaviour causes changes to the amygdala
