Fear is a natural reaction to a perceived threat. It is a means of protection, as it stimulates adrenaline production and initiates the “fight or flight” response. This physiological reaction is basically the same in humans and other mammals. These responses originate in the amygdala, an evolutionarily old part of the brain involved in emotions. Because the amygdala is organized and functions similarly in humans and other mammals it is possible to study the amygdala in rats and have it be relevant to the human brain. It is the amygdala, the primitive part of the brain that controls fear response, that fascinates and drives Dr. Joseph LeDoux.

Get Flash to see this player.

Dr. LeDoux, a University Professor and Henry and Lucy Moses Professor of Science at NYU, has a lengthy and prestigious CV. After earning his PhD in psychology in 1977 from the State University of Stony Brook, LeDoux took a postdoctoral fellowship at Cornell University Medical College. He later became an assistant and then an associate professor there until 1989 when he joined New York University, where he is affiliated with the Center for Neural Science and the Department of Psychology.

LeDoux’s work centers primarily on the mechanisms of the brain regarding emotion and memory with a particular interest in fear and anxiety. The amygdala is of particular interest to him because it is this area of the brain that regulates fear response and responses to other emotions.

Currently, he is the director of the Conte Center for the Neuroscience of Fear and Anxiety. The Conte Center is a virtual meeting place for more than 50 researchers from various institutions in Manhattan and some of the sharpest minds in the academic arena to explore the phenomenon of fear and anxiety as it relates to the brain. He is also the director of the Emotional Brain Institute, relative new project that is a collaboration between New York University and New York State.

He is also a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Fellow of the New York Academy of Science and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Science.

LeDoux has also authored several articles in scholarly journals as well as two books: The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life and Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are. In 2005 he received the Fssen International Prize in Cognitive Science.

Heavy Mental

The Amygdaloids, LeDoux’s band, is a collection of super minds that write and perform music about the mind and brain. Many of their songs, including “All in a Nut” and “An Emotional Brain,” are based on their research regarding neuroscience and brain, mind and mental disorders. They refer to their music as “Heavy Mental.” Hear their music on myspace by clicking the link on the side of this page.

The human brain is a medical and psychological mystery. While research has covered a great deal of ground in recent years and opened many windows into how the brain functions, it is but the tip of the iceberg. There is still much more to learn.