Describe the role of the amygdala in emotion, and explain how a person can experience two opposite emotions simultaneously

What will be an ideal response?

Answer will include that LeDoux and other researchers have found that an area of the brain called the amygdala specializes in producing fear. The amygdala receives sensory information very directly and quickly, bypassing the cortex. As a result, it allows us to respond to potential danger before we really know what's happening. This primitive fear response is not under the control of higher brain centers. The role of the amygdala in emotion may explain why people who suffer from phobias and disabling anxiety often feel afraid without knowing why. People who suffer damage to the amygdala become "blind" to emotion. An armed robber could hold a gun to a person's head and the person wouldn't feel fear. Such people are also unable to "read" or understand other people's emotional expressions, especially as conveyed by their eyes. Many lose their ability to relate normally to friends, family, and coworkers. In addition, one can also experience both positive and negative emotions at the same time because positive emotions are processed mainly in the left hemisphere, while negative emotions are processed in the right hemisphere. Thus, the fact that positive and negative emotions are based in different brain areas helps explain why we can feel happy and sad at the same time.