amygdala

a·myg·da·la  (-mgd-l)

n. pl. a·myg·da·lae (-l)

An almond-shaped mass of gray matter in the anterior portion of the temporal lobe. Also called amygdaloid nucleus.

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[Latin, almond, from Greek amugdal.]

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amygdala  (-mgd-l)

Plural amygdalae (-mgd-l)

An almond-shaped mass of gray matter in the front part of the temporal lobe of the cerebrum that is part of the limbic system and is involved in the processing and expression of emotions, especially anger and fear.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

amygdala - an almond-shaped neural structure in the anterior part of the temporal lobe of the cerebrum; intimately connected with the hypothalamus and the hippocampus and the cingulate gyrus; as part of the limbic system it plays an important role in motivation and emotional behavior amygdaloid nucleus, corpus amygdaloideum temporal ccortex, temporal lobe - that part of the cerebral cortex in either hemisphere of the brain lying inside the temples of the head basal ganglion - any of several masses of subcortical grey matter at the base of each cerebral hemisphere that seem to be involved in the regulation of voluntary movement limbic brain, limbic system, visceral brain - a system of functionally related neural structures in the brain that are involved in emotional behavior