Consequences of selective bilateral lesions to the basolateral amygdala in humans.

Jack van Honk, David Terburg, Helena Thornton, Dan J Stein, Barak Morgan

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Urbach-Wiethe disease (UWD) is rare genetic disorder characterized by developmental brain calcification with selective damage to the bilateral amygdala in some cases. Research on these subjects with UWD has contributed significantly to our understanding of the roles of the human amygdala in social and emotional behavior. In rodents, there is a wealth of research with multiple techniques (e.g., lesion, neuroimaging, pharmacological) investigating the role of the amygdala in social and emotional behavior, but a drawback is that these data are often not translatable to humans. Rodent research typically uses an amygdala subregion model with a focus on the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and the central-medial amygdala (CMA). The BLA and CMA in rodent research unmistakably have different and even antagonist social and emotional functions. In human research, however the amygdala is still mostly considered and researched as a unified structure. Recently, a group of subjects with UWD, identified in the Northern Cape mountain deserts of South Africa, arguably have provided a Rosetta Stone for the translation of rodent to human data. In this chapter, we discuss the remarkable history behind the relatively large population of South African subjects with UWD. Furthermore, we review our first findings from these subjects, focusing in particular on their fear processing, socioeconomic behavior, and emotional conflict processing. These new data not only seem to stand in stark contrast to the seminal findings on subjects with UWD with full amygdala damage, but also importantly are consistent with findings in rodents with BLA lesions. Further brain and behavioral research on this group, especially combined with research on subjects with full amygdala lesions, as well as with animal research, provides an important opportunity to better understand the function of the human amygdala. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationLiving without an amygdala.
Pages334-363
Number of pages30
Publication statusPublished - 2016

Publication series

NameLiving without an amygdala.

Keywords

  • *Amygdala
  • *Neural Lesions
  • Emotional Responses
  • Fear
  • Socioeconomic Status

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