The Amazing Amygdala

What We Know about the Amygdala

If you’re healthy, you have two amygdalas, one right and one left. (Although you have two, scientists talk about them like they are one.)

· They’re located deep in the center of the brain

· The amygdala of men and women behave quite differently in the same situations according to brain images

· Psychopaths have damaged or under-developed amygdala

· The amygdala is the part of the brain that helps us remember what smells like what and how we feel about it—if you like the smell of bread baking in the oven, that’s the amygdala talking

· All humans have amygdala and so do some mammals, but birds and fish do not

· The size of your amygdala correlates to the size of your social network; people with a big amygdala have lots of friends