Fear is one of the most powerful forces shaping human behavior. It has kept our ancestors alive through predator attacks, territorial conflicts, and environmental disasters — and it continues to fire ...

Explore the psychology of fear and how our brains react to danger. Uncover evolutionary survival instincts, from the amygdala's alarm to ancient responses.

I’ve been studying the amygdala for more than 30 years. When I started this work, research on this brain region was a lonely field of inquiry. The hippocampus was all the rage, and I sometimes felt ...

Scientists have used graphene oxide nanosheets to deliver neuropeptide Y into the rat amygdala, selectively erasing fear ...

A new study identifies central amygdala neurons that trigger severe anxiety from cannabis under stressful conditions.

The emotion of fear is a core part of the human experience. Our brains are wired to experience fear as a way to warn us that we might be in danger, such as when faced with a bear in the woods. But ...

Picture a star-shaped cell in the brain, stretching its spindly arms out to cradle the neurons around it. That's an astrocyte, and for a long time, scientists thought its job was caretaking the brain, ...

Northwestern Medicine investigators have uncovered new insights into the synaptic connections of subgroups of interneurons, findings that may improve the understanding of fear responses and could ...

MILWAUKEE, WI - Ongoing research is revealing how psychedelic drugs like psilocybin (the active ingredient in "magic mushrooms") and LSD may help treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by ...