Fear and panic in humans with bilateral amygdala damage

Justin S. Feinstein; Colin Buzza; Rene Hurlemann; Robin L. Follmer; Nader S. Dahdaleh; William H. Coryell; Michael J. Welsh; Daniel Tranel; John A. Wemmie

doi:10.1038/nn.3323

Fear and panic in humans with bilateral amygdala damage

Justin S. Feinstein, Colin Buzza, Rene Hurlemann, Robin L. Follmer, Nader S. Dahdaleh, William H. Coryell, Michael J. Welsh, Daniel Tranel^*, John A. Wemmie

^*Corresponding author for this work

Neurological Surgery

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

228 Scopus citations

Abstract

Decades of research have highlighted the amygdala's influential role in fear. We found that inhalation of 35% CO₂ evoked not only fear, but also panic attacks, in three rare patients with bilateral amygdala damage. These results indicate that the amygdala is not required for fear and panic, and make an important distinction between fear triggered by external threats from the environment versus fear triggered internally by CO₂.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	270-272
Number of pages	3
Journal	Nature neuroscience
Volume	16
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3323
State	Published - Mar 2013

Funding

We thank A. Wunsch for technical support and M. Coryell and J. Potash for critically reading this manuscript. C.B. was supported by a Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship. D.T. was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (P50 NS19632). J.A.W. was supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs (Merit Award), the National Institutes of Mental Health (5RO1MH085724) and a McKnight Neuroscience of Brain Disorders Award. R.H. was supported by a Starting Independent Researcher Grant (NEMO—Neuromodulation of Emotion) jointly provided by the Ministry of Innovation, Science, Research and Technology of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia (MIWFT) and the University of Bonn. M.J.W. receives funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Neuroscience

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title = "Fear and panic in humans with bilateral amygdala damage",

abstract = "Decades of research have highlighted the amygdala's influential role in fear. We found that inhalation of 35% CO2 evoked not only fear, but also panic attacks, in three rare patients with bilateral amygdala damage. These results indicate that the amygdala is not required for fear and panic, and make an important distinction between fear triggered by external threats from the environment versus fear triggered internally by CO2.",

author = "Feinstein, {Justin S.} and Colin Buzza and Rene Hurlemann and Follmer, {Robin L.} and Dahdaleh, {Nader S.} and Coryell, {William H.} and Welsh, {Michael J.} and Daniel Tranel and Wemmie, {John A.}",

note = "Funding Information: We thank A. Wunsch for technical support and M. Coryell and J. Potash for critically reading this manuscript. C.B. was supported by a Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship. D.T. was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (P50 NS19632). J.A.W. was supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs (Merit Award), the National Institutes of Mental Health (5RO1MH085724) and a McKnight Neuroscience of Brain Disorders Award. R.H. was supported by a Starting Independent Researcher Grant (NEMO—Neuromodulation of Emotion) jointly provided by the Ministry of Innovation, Science, Research and Technology of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia (MIWFT) and the University of Bonn. M.J.W. receives funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.",

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AU - Coryell, William H.

AU - Welsh, Michael J.

AU - Tranel, Daniel

AU - Wemmie, John A.

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Fear and panic in humans with bilateral amygdala damage

Abstract

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ASJC Scopus subject areas

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