Authors: Daniel P Kennedy, Jan Gläscher, J Michael Tyszka & Ralph Adolph
Published by Nature Neuroscience 12, 1226 - 1227 (2009)
Published online: 30 August 2009 | doi:10.1038/nn.2381
How is the brain involved in the regulation of personal space? Previous research has shown that the amygdala is involved in social approach and avoidance, but not much is known about personal space. After this experiment, it was found that the amygdala is involved in recognition of personal space, and is activated when an individual is next to others. One lesion patient was compared with people without amygdalar damage, and they analyzed each participant’s comfort level at different distances to a confederate.
The participant with amygdala lesion lacked discomfort even at very close distances (almost touching) to the experimenter. In instances where healthy people felt uncomfortable, the lesion patient felt comfortable. The article states that even the confederate, who knew what was going on, felt uncomfortable in the situation. However, the article does point out that the lesion patient was aware that others have discomfort when she did not.
Although personal space is subjective to each individual, there are cultural definitions of personal space. For instance, I know that Italians’ cultural standard of personal space is closer than Americans’. Does this have implications on how the amygdala develops or how it responds in people of different cultures?
I find it interesting that the lesion patient was aware that others had discomfort. It shows that there are different processes in play when thinking about and feeling a certain situation. I think this truly highlights the complexity of the brain and all the different processes are work in parallel during any given situation.
ReplyDeleteUsually, one would think about the physical closeness of another while feeling uncomfortable. Thus, I think we have a tendency to relate the two. However, studies such as this show us that we cannot rely on our "instinctive" beliefs.
What I find interesting about this study is that it supports the idea that the amygdala is important for understanding and being aware of "personal space." Impairment in these processes is a common symptom seen in autism, and I have read several studies that have indicated that amygdala dysfunction might be partially responsible for some of the symptoms. This study, therefore, provides more evidence for this idea and and a better understanding for the possible causes of autism. Additionally, I agree that there are cultural definitions of personal space. I think it might make for an interesting study to repeat this research among different cultural groups and compare the results to see if there are neurological underpinnings.
ReplyDelete