Don’t ask me why but I’m deeply fascinated by the human brain and its functioning. Despite their deeply complex vocabulary I often try to read articles and see documentaries on the subject. In one such expedition I came face-to-face with my fears, like literally – this was a piece on Armygdala, a small almond-shaped piece in the middle of our brain. In simple language, this guy is in charge of keeping us safe. The Amygdala is the reason we are afraid of things outside our control. It also controls the way we react to certain stimuli, or an event that causes an emotion, that we see as potentially threatening or dangerous.

An article I was reading said that it also often “gets in the way of you taking bold steps and moving with confidence”. So this almond-sized small thingy has played a very crucial in shaping the human race. Our forefathers could have been annihilated by their brashness or simply walked into their deaths off hazards…. and well… long story short – the almond hath saveth us all! But hey, here is an alternate take, has Armygdala harmed us over the long term? Have we become too afraid to take risks? Think about it.

To each his own Armygdala!

P.S. As part of one research initiative Armygdala was removed from two rat’s brains. Result – “the rats were said to have no fear of anything, even cats. The removal of the amygdala had taken away the rats’ memory of fear, therefore the rats did not fear anything!”