Fear factor function in brain.

• Position: Neurology - Amygdala in the brain distinguishes fear in our faces - Brief Article

A look of fear on another person's face is recognizable instantly. The split-second ability of the amygdala, a small, almond-shaped structure deep in the brain, distinguishes fear in facial expressions. In particular, it relies heavily on visual information contained in the eye region.

A study by scientists at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, reports that the mechanism by which the amygdala contributes to processing visual information about facial expressions is by actively directing a person's gaze to the eye region to seek out and fixate on the critical visual cues for fear.

"People often think of the brain as passively receiving information from the senses about the world. Yet, there are mechanisms in the brain that allow us to actively seek out information in the environment in the first place," the study reports.

The research may have implications for conditions such as autism, where patients show abnormal fixation on facial features and have a...