A patient with bilateral amygdala damage is unable to acquire a conditioned fear response to a tone paired with an electric shock, despite normal hearing and normal motor responses to the shock. The amygdala's role in this deficit is best described as:

• A Processing the sensory features of the tone
• B Associating the conditioned stimulus with the aversive unconditioned stimulus ✓
• C Mediating the motor response to the shock
• D Consolidating the fear memory in the hippocampus

Explanation

The amygdala is essential for fear conditioning, specifically for associating a neutral conditioned stimulus (tone) with an aversive unconditioned stimulus (shock). It does not process the sensory features of the tone (auditory cortex) or mediate the motor response (motor cortex). The associative learning itself depends on the amygdala.

Reference: Ganong's Review of Medical Physiology, 26th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.