Amygdala

scop: registers fear and triggers aggression (source: the female brain, introduction)

- center of emotion (s: female brain, ch2)

- sex hormones were causing brain cells to grow and sprout extensions in teenage brains .' These unfinished— unmyelinated—extension cords, most prominent in the connections from the emotion center of the amygdalato the emotional control center of the prefrontal cortex, need to be coated with a substance called myelin that allows for fast conduction before they can function reliably under stress. This may not happen until the late teens or early adult years. Without the fast connection to the prefrontal cortex, big downloads of emotional impulses often result in immediate, raw behaviors and circuit overload (pg 50 female brain)

- This work has led to research on cognitive enhancers, or compounds that may amplify connections in the prefrontal cortex to speed up the natural reversal. Such enhancement would give the higher regions of the brain a fighting chance against the amygdala, a more basal region that plays a role in priming the dopamine -reward system when certain cues suggest imminent pleasure--anything from the sight of white powder that looks like cocaine to spending time with friends you used to drink with. It's that conditioned reflex--identical to the one that caused Ivan Pavlov's famed dog to salivate at the ringing of a bell after it learned to associate the sound with food--that unleashes a craving. (http://www.pkwy.k12.mo.us/homepage/cdobkin/File/The_Science_Of_Addiction.pdf)