I think we are splitting into different directions on the definition of amygdala activity. I think you are seeing amygdala activity as being production of aversive stimulus (which is admittedly a popular view I disagree with). I see amygdala activity as seeking answers to shut off aversive stimulus, which I believe is triggered by the amygdala (and could be triggered mistakenly due to maladaptation in some cases). The panic though, is actually produced by the Anterior Cingulate Cortex.
So my hypothesis based on a lot of readings and personal experience (and I do have formal training in Cognitive Neurosci) is the amygdala encounters threat, triggers the ACC, and the ACC then forces, via panic/brain-pain, an amygdala-driven search of the brain for all possible actions and outcomes, until it hits on a potential act that could shut off the ACC’s panic response somewhat.
The panic then drives the action. In this model, the ACC is the driver using punishment, and the amygdala is the guy whose job is seeing reality honestly and trying to diminish the punishment by finding something to do to the world around you to turn off the punishment. I ignore the studies about anxiety and amygdala size and connectivity, because a narcissist may show no panic, not because he is good with coping with stress, but just because he denies all reality, and even if he didn’t he would lie about feeling panic to his last breath. I also look at liberals, who say Conservatives are panicky because we want guns when passing through a dangerous neighborhood, while the liberal doesn’t panic because they would walk through the neighborhood unarmed. Yet it is conservatives who head off to war, and liberals who would dodge the draft due to panic even as the Nazis were at the gates. Which is maladaptive? Which si panicky?
So conservatives have larger amygdalae, smaller ACCs, and less panic under threat and more comfort with threat (even as they feel panic) - because they have greater amygdala-linkage to the rest of the brain, better logical modeling capability, and a resultant better problem solving capability.
Liberals (and narcissists) have developed to try and shield themselves from panic by somehow hacking their perception of reality upstream of the amygdala, so the stressful reality doesn’t make it into the amygdala to trigger the ACC, instead being replaced by the non-triggering “false reality.”
Given less amygdala triggering, their amygdala looks for solutions less, and they become a problem avoider/denier rather than a problem solver, and panic if a problem makes it into the amygdala. Eventually, they can’t face any problem because they know they can’t solve any amygdala triggering problem, and you get a liberal yelling at you for being mean by “triggering” them with a theme of a manly man who kicks ass in a world that is dangerous, or a world that isn’t equal and safe for everyone.
The inability to cope with aversive stimulus may have a root in an overdevelopment of the ACC, due to genes or environment, and making the punishment it inflicts so strong as to be unbearable.
I agree on Psychopaths, and would only add some research shows an ACC deficit along with an amygdala deficit. Not only is the triggering facility diminished, but so is the panic being triggered.
Since you are interested in Narcissists, I’ll note both the Evolutionary Psychology Behind Politics, and How to Deal With Narcissists should be free starting Monday at Castaliahouse.com.
Take care.
I have no specific neurocognitive training beyond extensive observation of treatment and occasional cursory study. While I was once a strong nurture advocate, I now believe that genetics plays a greater role in aberrant behavior, though it can often be exacerbated by environment. I find many practitioners speaking of the amygdala as a vestigial appendage that constantly misfires due to the complexity of modern cognition. I totally disagree with this view, and I find your hypothesis quite plausible. It also accounts for the intractable lying that accompanies both sides of the spectrum (N-P).
Despite the mythical web-of-lies, I have found most narcissists and psychopaths don’t bother—they simply maintain a willful state of cognitive dissonance wherein their lies become reality for them. It is also interesting that most “mental health” workers fall far into the r spectrum, and avoid any inference that that their safe little liberal world is as much a construct as their patients’. The few neuroscientists that I have encountered are almost outcasts in the mental health “profession” because their science is a bit too harsh for most of the community of leftists.
Good work, and good luck with your books.
I was trying to figure out how I had a copy of “How to Deal With Narcissists” on my Kindle as I’m almost finished and wondered if it was from FR. Did a site search and yes. It was authored by you! What a great book.
I’ve always wondered about boring people I’ve sometimes gotten stuck with at parties and elsewhere. I would often stand there and think, “What makes this person so boring?” and stick around them, listening, trying to figure it out. Your book provided the answer.