IMPAIRED RECOGNITION OF EMOTION IN FACIAL EXPRESSIONS FOLLOWING BILATERAL DAMAGE TO THE HUMAN AMYGDALA

STUDIES in animals have shown that the amygdala receives highly proces sed visual input(1,2), contains neurons that respond selectively to fa ces(3), and that it participates in emotion(4,5) and social behaviour( 6). Although studies in epileptic patients support its role in emotion (7), determination of the amygdala's function in humans has been hampe red by the rarity of patients with selective amygdala lesions(8). Here , with the help of one such rare patient, we report findings that sugg est the human amygdala may be indispensable to: (1) recognize fear in facial expressions; (2) recognize multiple emotions in a single facial expression; but (3) is not required to recognize personal identity fr om faces. These results suggest that damage restricted to the amygdala causes very specific recognition impairments, and thus constrains the broad notion that the amygdala is involved in emotion.