Cerebral tonsil: what it is, location, parts and functions

  • Jan 25, 2022
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Cerebral tonsil: what it is, location, parts and functions

If you want to activate your cerebral amygdala so that it works at its maximum, there is nothing like horror movies, suspense... or participate yourself in a escape room Horror. The amygdala is involved in the emotional reactions of very varied animal species, including humans.

In addition, the cerebral amygdala intervenes in the effects of emotions on different cognitive processes, such as attention, memory or social cognition. If you want to know more about the cerebral amygdala: what it is, location, parts and functions, keep reading! In this Psychology-Oline article we explain it to you with the best notes with infographics.

You may also like: Thalamus: what it is, functions and location

Index

  1. What is the cerebral amygdala
  2. Location
  3. Parts of the cerebral amygdala
  4. Functions
  5. How and when to activate the cerebral amygdala

What is the cerebral amygdala.

The amygdala is one small almond-shaped subcortical structure, which is found within the adjacent medial temporal lobe, in the anterior portion of the

hippocampus and abuts the periamygdaloid cortex and the parahippocampal cortex. It also makes up one of the structures that make up the limbic system and, in turn, is made up of different nuclei.

amygdala receives sensory input from the thalamus and sensory cortex. In addition, it receives information from the association cortex and the limbic system (especially the hippocampal formation). Likewise, this structure sends connections to the sensory cortex, the frontal cortex, the hippocampal formation, the hypothalamus and different nuclei of the brain. Brain stem.

There is a relationship between the amygdala and emotions, because this structure sends information to the hypothalamus and brainstem to activate the three components of an emotion (behavioural, autonomic and endocrine) in response to situations of a varied nature.

Cerebral amygdala: what it is, location, parts and functions - What is the cerebral amygdala

Location.

The amygdala is a subcortical structure located in the amygdaloid complex of the cerebrum, in the inner part of the medial temporal lobe, anterior and dorsal to the hippocampal formation, and forms a subsystem within the limbic system.

The amygdala subsystem links to the association cortex via the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, the anterior temporal cortex and insula and is functionally related to the dorsomedial nucleus of the thalamus Also, this subsystem extends through the septal area and hippocampus into the mesencephalic reticular formation.

Cerebral tonsil: what it is, location, parts and functions - Location

Image: Altruistic Gene.

Parts of the cerebral amygdala.

The amygdala is formed from a heterogeneous set ofthirteen cores located at the medial rostral pole of the temporal lobe. In turn, these can be grouped into three groups of nuclei widely connected to each other and with a pattern specific projections with other brain regions, but not all of them are part of the system limbic

These cores are:

  1. corescorticomedial: that are part of the olfactory cortex, so they receive information related to smell
  2. Corecentral: This is part of the limbic system. It is an output nucleus of the amygdala and is related to the expression of emotional responses. Specifically, it is responsible for causing a series of changes at the physical level associated with emotions.
  3. Basolateral Nuclei Group: They are a set of nuclei, which are also part of the limbic system and are associated with the assignment of emotional content to stimuli. For example, a spider that generates a fear response in us.

Functions.

What do the tonsils have to do with emotions? Along with other structures such as the hypothalamus, the lateral orbitofrontal cortex, the medial prefrontal cortex, the insular cortex, the pole temporal, anterior cingulate cortex, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, among others, the cerebral amygdalae play a role specialized in emotion processing.

Specifically, the cerebral amygdala is responsible for the formation of primary emotions, especially negative ones such as fear. But, in addition to this, it has other functional implications:

  • Processing of olfactory information.
  • Assigning emotional content to experience, especially those that generate fear, threat and negative sensations. The amygdala, in these cases, produces both the subjective and the peripheral emotional response (for example, when fear paralyzes us).
  • learning and memory with emotional components.
  • Recognition of universal primary emotions both in ourselves and in others. This function explains why some people who have an alteration in the amygdala have difficulty recognizing the emotions of others.
  • Control of motivated behaviors.
  • Control of the stress response of the organism.

Other functions of the cerebral amygdala as a consequence of those mentioned are:

  • Origin of the satisfaction response, especially in those behaviors related to food intake
  • Intervention of sexual response, since it provides the motivation and predisposition factors
  • Management of social relations due to its involvement in the recognition and interpretation of primary emotions and the emotional content of other people's faces.
Cerebral tonsil: what it is, location, parts and functions - Functions

How and when to activate the cerebral amygdala.

The amygdala receives and sends information through two main pathways: the stria terminalis pathway and the ventral amygdalofugal pathway.

  • The terminal stria It is characterized by being a bundle of fibers that enables connections with the lateral hypothalamus, the nucleus of the stria terminalis bed, the nucleus accumbens and the septal nuclei. This set of axons originate mainly in the cells of the group of medial nuclei. Through this pathway, the amygdala receives information from the septal nuclei and the hypothalamus, mainly.
  • As regards the ventral amygdalofugal pathway (includes both afferent and efferent fibers), it is a diffuse set of fibers that send information to different brainstem nuclei, to the dorsomedial nucleus of the thalamus, to the hypothalamus and septal nuclei, to the ventral striatum, to the rostral cingulate gyrus, and to the cortex orbitofrontal. These axons originate from both the basolateral cell group and the central nucleus group. Through this pathway the amygdala receives information from the diencephalon, the anterior cingulate cortex and the orbital cortex.

In addition to these two main pathways, the amygdala receives information directly from structures in the temporal lobe and via the lateral olfactory tract. receives input from the olfactory cortex and olfactory bulb. In addition, the amygdala sends efferent projections directly to extensive cortical areas in the temporal lobe and to cortical areas involved in brain function. sensory information processing.

An example of how the amygdala is activated in response to stimuli that cause emotions, they show us Goel and Dolan in 2007, since through a study they showed that jokes that implied a violation of social norms induced activation of the right amygdala and the left orbitofrontal cortex.

If you liked this post about the cerebral amygdala, do not hesitate to read our article on Limbic system: parts, functions and diseases, where you can learn more about the regulation of physiological and emotional responses.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Cerebral tonsil: what it is, location, parts and functions, we recommend that you enter our category of neuropsychology.

Bibliography

  • Carlson, N. R. (2014). physiology of behavior. Madrid. Pearson Education, S.A.
  • Jodar Vicente, M. (Coord.) (2013). Neuropsychology. Barcelona. Editorial UOC.
  • Portell, I. (2015). The limbic system. Autonomous University of Barcelona.
  • Triglia, A. (2007). Cerebral amygdala: what it is, functions and anatomy. Azsalud. Recovered from: https://azsalud.com/medicina/amigdala-cerebral

Cerebral tonsil: what it is, location, parts and functions

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