Psychology

Amygdala is a complex structure and is responsible for carrying out a variety of functions. It is particularly associated with the emotional and mental state of a human being.  It is located in the medial temporal lobes of the human brain just above the hypothalamus. It is a constituent of the limbic system and is associated with several emotions for instance anxiety, fear, anger, autism, phobias and schizophrenia. Amygdala is also reactive to any unpleasant sights, sensations or smells and is adversely linked with the emotions of pleasure. Information related to emotional events is learned, further developed and stored in the amygdala and as a result of which it has a key role in the functioning of the emotional memory.

Amygdala has connections with many different regions of the brain which permit amygdala to play an important role in numerous functions of the brain. These connections are associated with the nuclei present in the amygdala and are unique for each nucleus for example the lateral nucleus receives most of the sensory flow directly into the amygdala. Similarly, central nucleus has a connection with response control areas which help in determining the level of expression of innate behaviors and related physiological responses.

Besides that, amygdala is also involved in the modulation of numerous cognitive functions for instance attentiveness, perception etc.

Conclusion
Poor functioning of amygdala can result in autism, social instability and individuals with such features can have substantial difficulty in adapting to the social aspects of the human life. There proper functioning of the amygdala is requisite for adequate emotional responses among humans along with other species.