- Used backward masking procedure, amygdala can respond for unconscious stimuli.
- 2X2 Design
- To test the responsivity for enlarged eye whites, their first condition was showing happy versus fearful emotions portrayed in facial expression, only showing the eyes. Compare fearful eye versus happy eye, where the fearful eyes would have more whites than the happy eyes 
- The second condition was to control for the confounding variable that the amygdala may be responding to the shape of the eyes. Edge information was the second condition In order to distinguish between higher versus lower feature responsivity 

Task

Hypothesis: the larger size of fearful eye whites (i.e., sclera) would be
sufficient to modulate amygdala responsivity
Therefore, maybe the amygdala is more responding to fear because it responds to the white eye, a general feature in fearful and surprised faces.

New York University

- Amygdala is found to be responsive for both fearful and surprised facial expressions, similar features.
- Evidence that amygdala can respond to crude representations of stimuli.
- Amygdala may be responding to eye whites.
- Whalen et al 2005 paper: Human Amygdala Responsivity To Masked Fearful Eye Whites.


How does the amygdala code fear in facial expression?

Paul J. Whalen, Jerome Kagan, Robert G. Cook, F. Caroline Davis, Hackjin Kim, Sara Polis, Donald G. McLaren, Leah H. Somerville, Ashly A. McLean, Jeffrey S. Maxwell, & Tom Johnstone. (2004). Human Amygdala Responsivity to Masked Fearful Eye Whites. Science, 306(5704), 2061.

Learn Before

Related

Learn After