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Removal of the amygdala(s)


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#1 pjmc

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Posted 08 April 2008 - 01:26 AM


I just want to throw this out there, would removing one's amygdala erase symptoms of OCD/anxiety/phobias in a patient who suffers from them? I have heard of epileptic sufferers having theirs removed and this actually stopped the seizures from occuring (these were people who were resistant to drug therapy).

Thanks for any info. And I hope this doesn't scare any of you, just asking out of curiosity.

Take care

#2 niner

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Posted 08 April 2008 - 03:28 AM

I just want to throw this out there, would removing one's amygdala erase symptoms of OCD/anxiety/phobias in a patient who suffers from them? I have heard of epileptic sufferers having theirs removed and this actually stopped the seizures from occuring (these were people who were resistant to drug therapy).

Thanks for any info. And I hope this doesn't scare any of you, just asking out of curiosity.

Interesting idea. What effect did this have on the personality of people who had their amygdala removed? At first glance, it seems like it could be a plus in the modern world...
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#3 drmz

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Posted 08 April 2008 - 06:49 AM

I think you would be less able or not at all able to recognize faces. Probably you'll get something that looks like the capgras syndrome.
I would not recommend it ;)

#4 JonesGuy

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Posted 08 April 2008 - 12:26 PM

The amygdala is extremely important, and is vital to having an emotional flavour in our experience.
A lot of people think we don't really want emotions, but they're wrong. Emotions are a type of cognitive function and are a form of intelligence. A person losing an amygdala would have a drastic reduction in intelligence and comprehension.

An example: a woman lost a portion of her amydala and no longer experienced fear. Not only that, but she lost the ability to perceive, recognise, or understand fear. An entire branch of understanding was lost to her.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, coupled with memory drugs would be far more useful in removing anxiety.
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#5 ADA

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Posted 11 November 2008 - 12:43 AM

I personally believe this is based on each individual situation per their health issues. Personally I have dealt with multiple rapes and one as a gang rape and physical assault and will tell you that prior I was a fearless physically healthy person and since then I have had adrenaline rushes for 12 years of intense fear for my life that it is now damaging my connective tissue and muscles & now I am seeing a cardiologist at age 35 to make sure my heart is intact after all the stress. My amygdala indeed seems to be in serious overdrive due to the unconscious memory of these serious things that happened upon waking up in such shock. Nothing I do helps to make the flooding of fear and cortisol stop. My life has now stopped. I would remove mine in a minute to feel like I used to... That would probably save my life! And I am seriously looking into it.

#6 forever freedom

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Posted 11 November 2008 - 01:01 AM

It will be good if in the future we are able to locate exact areas of the brain that are responsible for any mental condition the person may have and make changes there using nanotech. No more countless years of useless therapy needed for these people...

#7 littlePawn

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Posted 24 June 2017 - 03:21 AM

It's good to keep an open mind about radical treatments for those of us, such as ADA, who suffer from such crippling anxiety that we experience constant adrenaline/cortisol rushes which create heavy cardiovascular stress. People will jump up and say "amygdala removal is a terrible idea". What about the myriad of people that die from cardviovascular disease each day? Did anyone even ponder that a subset of those fatalities could be prevented if those people didn't have fear? Fear to exercise, fear to go the gym, fear to be seen in public walking, fear of social interaction, fear of many things that are not easily understood. Having less emotion may be a compromise, sure, but how much emotion is lost should be weighed as a negative vs the benefits, instead of immediately saying "well look at this side effect, so forget the idea".

 

I believe there's a subtle campaign by big pharma and the government it subsidizes to suppress any and all "scientific" discussion, even on this forum, for anything that alters life extension, mental health, or anything else, that isn't a chemical that you need to take regularly. Even here notice the hype around life extension is always about chemicals. Logically, chemicals as a treatment for OCD/anxiety/phobias or chemicals to increase lifespan seems such a very antiquated method. In the 21st century we should really be more open minded and discussing other alternatives, and ideas such as amygdala removal for mental health purposes shouldn't be shot down instantly without a deeper discussion.

 

I came across a very interesting post on a forum by a person name "Rossala" who actually had his amygdala removed to deal with his various mental issues. I'll link it here: https://www.thenaked...p?topic=66498.0

This was a most interesting read.

 

I realize this is 9 years late, but I wanted to post this find, and didn't want to make a duplicate thread. I'm hoping we can create some open-minded discussion around this for those of us with chronic anxiety/phobias and the like.


Edited by littlePawn, 24 June 2017 - 03:26 AM.

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#8 kurdishfella

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Posted 21 July 2017 - 12:06 AM

The amygdala is extremely important, and is vital to having an emotional flavour in our experience.
A lot of people think we don't really want emotions, but they're wrong. Emotions are a type of cognitive function and are a form of intelligence. A person losing an amygdala would have a drastic reduction in intelligence and comprehension.

An example: a woman lost a portion of her amydala and no longer experienced fear. Not only that, but she lost the ability to perceive, recognise, or understand fear. An entire branch of understanding was lost to her.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, coupled with memory drugs would be far more useful in removing anxiety.

because fear is not real.



#9 Daniel Cooper

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Posted 10 November 2017 - 04:39 PM

 

The amygdala is extremely important, and is vital to having an emotional flavour in our experience.
A lot of people think we don't really want emotions, but they're wrong. Emotions are a type of cognitive function and are a form of intelligence. A person losing an amygdala would have a drastic reduction in intelligence and comprehension.

An example: a woman lost a portion of her amydala and no longer experienced fear. Not only that, but she lost the ability to perceive, recognise, or understand fear. An entire branch of understanding was lost to her.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, coupled with memory drugs would be far more useful in removing anxiety.

because fear is not real.

 

 

 

Oh really?  You don't think fear serves a purpose.  Do you imagine that millions of years of evolution endowed us with useless appendages like fear?

 

Fear can certainly be pathological.  But to say that fear doesn't exist or is completely useless is silly.

 

There's a technical terms for humans walking around a jungle filled with large predators while experiencing no fear.  That technical term is dead.



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#10 chronicpaindr

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Posted 08 December 2017 - 07:03 AM

Hi,
I'm an anesthesiologist who practices cannabinoid medicine and I have been learning incredible ways to use THC and CBD to control anxiety and ptsd. Which this woman pjmc very clearly has. It's too bad THC and CBD ratios are not legal as medicine other than where I practice.

I Do want to share what I learned recently.
Latest research I learned at a talk in Canada done by an Italian PhD studying fear and motivation via the amygdala and frontal cortex and the role of THC:
In essence the amygdala is the storage of long term memories as a method of evolution. Think about it, if you couldn't ever Remember that burning your hand would result in tissue damage and harm you long term you would "accidentally" keep doing it. Meaning, you won't survive long. Infections are high risk because of perpetual tissue damage. Therefore that memory stored in your muscles and your nerves via the amygdala is essential. You see fire your instinct is to run. Anyways, the amygdala is what stores memories as a retrieval system of positive negative and neutral. Negative are associated with nervous system changes and memory retrieval becomes abnormal due to stress on the pre frontal cortex. This is the understanding of what PTSD is at the level of the brain parts. The prefrontal cortex is the key part of the brain that regulates. PFC is central in the ability to activate the amygdala and what's so fascinating is that the molecule of THC works on the inhibitory pathway from the PFC to the amygdala.
That's why war veterans love cannabis. The bad memories don't surge because they have more control of their amygdala because the prefrontal cortex works better. Secondly, THC simultaneously also suppresses the amygdala from firing too much on its own. So it works on both parts at the same time. We don't have any known medicine that can do this. The next strategy should be then conventional psychological CBT and Combine this with mindfulness meditation and self compassion strategies you will start re-training your brain how to manage in high stress situations and prevent a physiologic response of your adrenergic system.

Neuroplasticity is real. If we can train ppl to walk after a stroke you can train yourself to think in a way that doesn't activate your adrenal gland through the various existing and faulty nerve pathways created during a very traumatic experience. Cannabis will help, I witness it everyday in my practice.

Anyways, welcome any thoughts. Peace.




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