Fear-conditioned alterations of motor cortex excitability: The role of amygdala

Abstract

Background and objective: We hypothesized that fear-conditioning may increase motor cortical excitability in preparation for response to fear. We tested our hypothesis in healthy subjects and in the second step, to determine the role of amygdala in alterations of motor cortex excitability, we included a group of patients who previously underwent unilateral amygdalo-hippocampectomy for temporal lobe epilepsy.