The phrase
"amygdala volumes" refers to the size or measurement of a part of the brain called the amygdala. The amygdala is responsible for processing emotions and plays a role in memory and decision-making. So, when we talk about
amygdala volumes, we are discussing the measurement or size of this specific brain structure.
Full definition
Preliminary evidence for persistent abnormalities in
amygdala volumes in adolescents and young adults with bipolar disorder
Specifically, we found that smaller hippocampus volumes and greater responses to sad faces in emotion reactivity regions predict increased depressive symptoms at the time of scan, whereas
larger amygdala volumes, smaller insula volumes, and greater responses in emotion reactivity regions predict decreased emotion regulation skills.
Highly inhibited children at age 5 show greater right orbitofrontal cortex and
amygdala volume at age 15, consistent with models of over-regulation and inhibition [85].
In the second experiment, using a third independent sample (n = 29), we used the ROIs generated from the first experiment in an a priori fashion to test the hypothesis that the strength of amygdala - based network connectivity would predict social network size and complexity over and
above amygdala volume, thereby significantly extending our findings from Bickart et al. (2011).
Negative correlations have been reported between
bilateral amygdala volume and life history of aggression (Matthies et al., 2012) and between trait anger and local gray matter volume in the left amygdala (Reuter et al., 2009) in healthy subjects.
Selective reduction in
amygdala volume in pediatric anxiety disorders: A voxel - based morphometry investigation
Researchers found that kids who grew up poor tended to have smaller hippocampus and
amygdala volumes.
Specifically, individuals diagnosed with major depression have smaller hippocampal and
amygdala volumes (34,35), structural and morphological changes in the prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortex (22), and basal ganglia structures (6).
In a separate group of healthy individuals, they used genotyping and neuroimaging to examine potential genetic associations with
amygdala volume in 1048 subjects and amygdala function in a subset of more than 100 subjects.
Poverty was associated with smaller white and cortical gray matter and hippocampal and
amygdala volumes.
Whereas Noble et al. (2012a) find a negative correlation between parental education and
amygdala volumes, Luby et al. (2013) and Hanson et al. (2011) find no association.
But it was shown to mediate completely the links between poverty, hippocampus volume, and
amygdala volume.
[16] Gerritsen, L., Kalpouzos, G., Westman, E., Simmons, A., Wahlund, L.O., Backman, L., Fratiglioni, & Wang, H.X. «The influence of negative life events on hippocampal and
amygdala volumes in old age: A life - course perspective.»