Table Of ContentTHE AMYGDALA
A DISCRETE MULTITASKING
MANAGER
Edited by Barbara Ferry
THE AMYGDALA –
A DISCRETE MULTITASKING
MANAGER
Edited by Barbara Ferry
The Amygdala – A Discrete Multitasking Manager
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/2973
Edited by Barbara Ferry
Contributors
Juan Pedro Vargas, Juan Carlos López, Manuel Portavella, Miguel Ángel Bertoni, Gina L.
Forster, Andrew M. Novick, Jamie L. Scholl, Michael J. Watt, Ryong-Moon Shin, Sodikdjon A.
Kodirov, Satish S. Nair, Candice M. Chavez, James L. McGaugh, Norman M. Weinberger,
Barbara Ferry, Gina L. Quirarte, Rodrigo Moraga-Amaro, Jimmy Stehberg, Andrés Molero
Chamizo, Trevor H. Gilbert, Xiaodan Yan, Dong Hoon Oh, Bruno Bonaz, Sonia Pellissier, Valérie
Sinniger, Didier Clarençon, André Peinnequin, Frédéric Canini, Shira Knafo, Elisabeth Petrasch-
Parwez, Hans-Werner Habbes, Marlen Löbbecke-Schumacher, Carsten Saft, Jennifer Niescery
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Cover InTech Design Team
First published December, 2012
Printed in Croatia
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Additional hard copies can be obtained from [email protected]
The Amygdala – A Discrete Multitasking Manager, Edited by Barbara Ferry
p. cm.
ISBN 978-953-51-0908-2
Contents
Preface IX
Chapter 1 Amygdala and Emotional Learning in Vertebrates –
A Comparative Perspective 1
Juan Pedro Vargas, Juan Carlos López and Manuel Portavella
Chapter 2 Neuroimaging of the Amygdala:
Quantitative Mechanistic Approach 33
Miguel Ángel Bertoni
Chapter 3 The Role of the Amygdala in Anxiety Disorders 61
Gina L. Forster, Andrew M. Novick,
Jamie L. Scholl and Michael J. Watt
Chapter 4 Cellular Mechanisms in the Amygdala Involved
in Memory of Fear Conditioning 103
Ryong-Moon Shin
Chapter 5 The Role of Norepinephrine in Amygdala
Dependent Fear Learning and Memory 121
Sodikdjon A. Kodirov
Chapter 6 Auditory Fear Circuits in the Amygdala –
Insights from Computational Models 141
Satish S. Nair
Chapter 7 Amygdala Strengthening of
Cortical Memory Representations 171
Candice M. Chavez, James L. McGaugh
and Norman M. Weinberger
Chapter 8 Role of Norepinephrine in Modulating
Inhibitory Avoidance Memory Storage:
Critical Involvement of the Basolateral Amygdala 203
Barbara Ferry and Gina L. Quirarte
VI Contents
Chapter 9 The Insular Cortex and the Amygdala:
Shared Functions and Interactions 231
Rodrigo Moraga-Amaro and Jimmy Stehberg
Chapter 10 Amygdala and Taste Learning 257
Andrés Molero Chamizo
Chapter 11 Amygdalar Models of Neurological
and Neuropsychiatric Disorders 285
Trevor H. Gilbert
Chapter 12 Amygdala, Childhood Adversity
and Psychiatric Disorders 303
Xiaodan Yan
Chapter 13 Traumatic Experiences Disrupt Amygdala –
Prefrontal Connectivity 325
Dong Hoon Oh
Chapter 14 The Irritable Bowel Syndrome: How Stress Can Affect
the Amygdala Activity and the Brain-Gut Axis 339
Bruno Bonaz, Sonia Pellissier, Valérie Sinniger,
Didier Clarençon, André Peinnequin and Frédéric Canini
Chapter 15 Amygdala in Alzheimer's Disease 375
Shira Knafo
Chapter 16 The Ventral Striatopallidum and Extended
Amygdala in Huntington Disease 385
Elisabeth Petrasch-Parwez, Hans-Werner Habbes,
Marlen Löbbecke-Schumacher, Carsten Saft and Jennifer Niescery
Preface
Among the components of the limbic system, the amygdala is a fascinating structure
that is involved in the processes of liking and disliking and in the ways our emotions
drive our actions and affect the strength of our memories.
Over this past decade, advances in techniques for examining brain activity have led to
new insights into the functional contribution of the amygdala to emotions, learning,
and related memories.
Combined with new conceptual breakthroughs, the research data obtained in animals
reviewed in this book have helped uncover the functional contribution of the
amygdala to these processes.
In addition, and consistent with the relations between amygdala malfunction and the
occurrence of a number of disorders that affect the personality and learning abilities,
this book presents recent advances in various research areas that provide insights into
the contribution of the amygdala to some neurological and neuropsychiatric
pathologies, including Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, anxiety and stress
disorders (i.e. post-traumatic stress disorder and irritable bowel syndrome) and
Huntington disease.
In order to address these topics, results from several research fields have been used
and the very latest data obtained by leading world experts in different aspects of
amygdala function are presented. Of course, due to the rate of research advancement,
all the chapters presented here correspond to precise questions addressed by experts
using highly specific techniques.
All the data presented in each chapter should be viewed as pieces of a puzzle that
represent all the different research areas that have to be taken into consideration in
discussing the role of the amygdala in emotion and memory.
Eighteen years ago, when I started my research on the amygdala, it was already a hot
topic and our knowledge about its role in emotion, learning, and memory was
growing very fast. Because of the speed at which new data were being published, I felt
the mystery shrouding the amygdala would soon disappear. However, time has
passed and the amygdala is still in the spotlight. The fascination and excitation
X Preface
aroused by the functional complexity of this structure never seem to vanish and there
is ample reason to believe that studies relating learning and memory to their neural
substrates will continue as a result of the many advances in the use of new
investigation tools. In this context, the discovery and the use of new techniques will
certainly contribute to progress in amygdala research.
Although the primary goal of this book is to inform experts and newcomers of some of
the latest data in the field of brain structures involved in mechanisms underlying
emotional learning and memory, I hope it will also help to stimulate discussion on the
functional role of the amygdala and connected brain structures in these mechanisms.
Barbara Ferry, Ph.D.
Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon
Université Claude Bernard Lyon
France
