Gilbert resident and University of Arizona student Clayton Mosher works with Dr. Katalin Gothard in Physiology; one of the few amygdala laboratories worldwide.

" The amygdala is considered the emotional center of the brain," Mosher explains, "It communicates with many other brain regions, ranging from the visual cortex where it assesses what we see, to the frontal lobe, an area that is necessary in forming logical decisions. The amygdala increases our vigilance, revving up our bodies for the fight or flight response."

Part of Mosher's research involves recording Skin Conductance Response (SCR), a measurement of the tiny amounts of sweat that our palms produce when we experience an emotion. Like the rate at which our hearts beat and our pupils change size, SCR is part of the autonomic nervous system. Because it is part of this system, we cannot control it like we do our hand movements or our thoughts. As a result, it is both an excellent and necessary aspect of the standard lie-detector test.

Over the past few decades, scientists have shown positive correlations between activity in the right amygdala and SCR, as well as a decrease in certain SCR for people with amygdala lesions.

" Like most brain areas the amygdala is bilateral, so there's one amygdala in our right brain and one in our left," Mosher says, "Unlike most brain areas, the two amygdala don't talk to each other and respond different to different stimuli!"

Because SCR is linked to the amygdala, Mosher has been studying how SCR changes when an individual views photos of faces with different emotional expressions. In half of these photos, the eyes are looking directly at the viewer while in the other half; the eyes are looking off to the side. On average, more SCR was produced when viewing a face with an indirect gaze. A possible explanation for this difference in SCR is that the indirect gaze is less informative than the direct. An indirect gaze requires the amygdala to answer questions such as 'where is this individual looking,' 'should I be looking there too,' and 'what made this individual feel this way?'

A direct gaze, however, is demanding and already tells the viewer at whom the attention is being directed; it already suggests at why the individual may feel a certain way. Through exploration of SCR and other autonomic reactions, scientists may one day be able to explain how the amygdala is functioning through a few simple measurements. This is a powerful idea since the amygdala is so closely linked to so many various brain regions.

" By further exploring SCR and the amygdala," Mosher says, "we may even be able to learn how to better control our own emotions and how to be more positive and accepting human beings."

Clayton Mosher works with Dr. Katalin Gothard in physiology. He is an interdisciplinary UBRPer and a senior in physiology and mathematics.