The human amygdala in social judgement

The human amygdala appears to be important in making accurate social judgements using facial appearance to assess individuals. Three subjects with bilateral damage to the amygdala were found to assess faces more positively than controls in terms of trustworthiness and approachability. The difference in assessment was greater when faces were seen by controls to be least trustworthy and approachable. The three subjects performed normally in assessing verbal descriptions of individuals. The amygdala seems to be a major part of neural systems involved in retrieving knowledge using facial appearance.