Word: amygdala
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...retina to the inner brain. Powerful technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging (mri) and positron-emission tomography (PET) have also provided a window on the human brain, letting scientists watch a thought taking place, see the red glow of fear erupting from the structure known as the amygdala, or note the telltale firing of neurons as a long-buried memory is reconstructed. "What's so exciting," says Patricia Churchland, a professor at the University of California at San Diego, "is that the philosophical questions raised by the Greeks are coming within the province of science...
...Prozac. Or consider the hyperactive child who takes Ritalin and discovers that now other kids will play with him. Social acceptance in a pill. Shyness, too, may succumb to a chemical cure. Research suggests that 1 in 5 babies is predisposed to be timid because of hypersensitivity of the amygdala -- a small structure in the brain. Fixing such problems may sound like better living through chemistry, but it rattles the very bedrock of identity...
...York University and Lars Terenius of Uppsala, Sweden, announced almost simultaneously the discovery of specific receptors for such opiates in the brain. Snyder's lab located a high density of receptors in the medial thalamus, an area of the brain responsible for registering deep sustained pain; in the amygdala, a region of the brain's limbic system that plays a role in controlling emotion; and in the spinal cord...
...mind chemicals also hold promise for controlling emotional pain. Because the emotion-controlling amygdala region of the brain is rich in enkephalin receptors, scientists speculate that the molecules may act as a defense against disappointments and trauma. At the Salk Institute, Floyd Bloom is studying the possibility that endorphins may be involved in the pleasure received from alcohol and opiates. Once a person begins taking heroin, say, the natural production of endorphins may decrease. Thus, if addicts try to go cold turkey, the agony of withdrawal is severe. If scientists can create nonaddictive chemicals that bind, like the opiates...
...enkephalins appear also to affect emotions. In mapping receptor sites Snyder found that the amygdala, a small portion of the brain that has no known role in physical pain but plays a major part in regulating the emotions, is unusually rich in opiate receptors. Thus variations in the number of receptors, or in the concentration of enkephalins?or the presence of narcotics?at these sites may affect emotions and behavior. Said Kosterlitz at the Manhattan award presentation: "The discovery of the enkephalins resembled the opening of Pandora's box, hopefully this time for the benefit of mankind...