Amygdala

Function of Amygdala

Triggers flight or fight response.

Facial recognition and the ability to recognise dangerous situations.

Regulates expression of emotion and emotional memory.

Faulty Amygdala

Inability to recognise emotions of others, facial recognition and fearful situations.

Become impulsive, leading to aggression.

Left Amygdala

Develop and associate with response to fearful stimuli and the ability to detect danger

Activated in an event and increases prospect of fear

Raine found ↓ levels of glucose metabolism

Reduced activity when processing fearful faces

Peak development 1.5-2 years before right.

Right Amygdala

Expression of negative emotion of processing of fear inducing stimuli & anger regulation.

Fear conditioning

Overactive indicates neural pathway is too slow or PFC is unable to slow down amygdala inhibition causing anger.

Raine’s Study

Low levels of glucose metabolism on the left amygdala compared to the right. There was reduced activity in the left when processing fearful faces for violent males. \n \n He founder higher levels of glucose on the right side verses the left when compared to non murderers, this means they are not able to control their anger.

✅ Glenn et al

Psychopaths have reduced activity in amygdala during moral decision making as they underwent fMRIs. Therefore showing a deficit in moral reasoning, causing them to be less likely in caring about others so engage in criminal activity.

❌ Reductionist

Does not take into account any social and environmental factors.

✅ Glenn: Objective

High internal validity due to the use of fMRI scans to look at the activity of the amygdala. Reduces any possible researcher bias, causing the results and findings of the study to be credible.

❌ Implications of Treatment

Finding out damaged amygdala causes them to commit crimes demotivates them from seeking help as they see it to be something biological that cannot be changed so it is pointless, causing recidivism to not be reduced.

✅ Williams

60% of Young Offenders in custody suffered a TBI.

❌ Deterministic

Does not allow for any free will to be considered into the reasoning as to why the defendant committed the crime. Scapegoat from criminal behaviour.

✅ Raine et al

Found ↓ levels of the left amygdala and ↑ in the right in murderers who pleaded NGRI compared to non-murderers. Therefore, this shows that murderers have a different activity in their amygdala, causing them to commit crime.

❌ Better Explanation

Social Learning Theory - more generalisable theory as not everyone within the prison system has a brain injury.

Application

Tailored treatments such as counselling

Amygdalotomy