Almonds are Small
Don't be "afraid", they are good for you
Many years ago I heard a radio interview about a woman who suffered from a very rare brain disease. As I recall, as the story continued, it was unnerving but fascinating. The story left an impression on me as I am recounting the story nearly twelve years later. I think that what made me listen to the story and retain the memory was that we lost a family member to brain cancer only a couple of years before. Diseases of that kind, that strike without warning are sinister and very hard to come to terms with. When people say all things happen for a reason, I try to allay my emotions but have a visceral reaction.
Until you are impacted by a tragic, unreasonable illness, you may very well have been one of those people who said all things happen for a reason but the experience makes you pause before you say it now, as if by instinct. The remarkable complexity of our brains and all the different operations it must accomplish is like a symphony orchestra. All of the players need to do their part in strict coordination. The failure of one instrument or an errant note will be noticed by the trained ear. We take all of this for granted yet it is simply remarkable coordination of parts and functions. Tonight’s post is about a small piece of the orchestra amidst the six-pound mass balancing on our brain stem.
When the thought of writing about what I remembered of that story, the internet was my friend, specifically my Google search engine. Having the power at your fingertips to research virtually anything is a power to behold. So I just typed the following:
AMYGDALA NO FEAR
I think that you will see a link to a National Geographic science article which I provided a link to here.
You are more than welcome to click the link now but read on if you are still interested in my point of view.
The amygdalae (there are two of them) are very near the center of your head and they are pretty small and shaped like, you guessed it, almonds. Studying the brain is hard for several reasons. Ethically, it is not reasonable to do any sort of experimentation or studies on people that might affect them adversely. So removing someone’s amygdala is out of the question. The radio story was about a woman who suffers from a rare disease that has led to the destruction of her amygdalae since late childhood. The woman has normal functionality in almost all respects. What happens when we don’t have any amygdalae?
The two small almonds in our heads are evaluated for several reasons. It turns out that psychopaths often have a slightly small amygdala or simply a variation in size between the two of them. We are talking about an almond that is about 15% smaller than average with horrific consequences. Many serious neurological conditions are traceable to variations in the amygdala. I find it remarkable that in almost all cases, errors are not made and this just works out in all its complexity in nearly all of us.
In the case of the woman who has been extensively studied, what we know is that she lacks any sense of fear and hence no physiological response to something that she may say she does not like! The absence of the amygdala simply means that fear is no longer felt in any way. Such a story is not for everyone. If you are interested in learning more, NPR had a long-form interview wherein aspects of the necessity of fear and some understanding of the mechanics of how it works.
A story like this evening remains with me 12+ years after hearing it. Life is fragile and we should therefore celebrate what we are so fortunate to have. Our bodies are like a symphony orchestra and every instrument plays its role. For music tonight I picked a couple of songs. The first one goes with the theme of how lucky we are to have amygdalae. I included a version that superimposes the lyrics as the song goes along at a brisk clip at times. Humans have shown themselves to be awful to each other at times, and able to condition themselves to act without remorse. We all need to seek our better selves.
Here’s the rest of the story which is upbeat and speaks to an unbeatable human spirit. The woman in the study has led a fulfilling life and has overcome the rare disease that destroyed her amygdalae. The triumph of the human spirit is always a great story. Here’s a song celebrating the importance of tenacity. Hope to see you all again on Tuesday.