Unconscious Amygdalar Fear Conditioning in a Subset of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients

by Earthwalker | Apr 14, 2009 | Brain Plasticity News, Chronic Fatigue / ME News, NEWS | 0 comments

Medical Hypotheses Volume 59, Issue 6, 12 November 2002, Pages 727-735

Unconscious Amygdalar Fear Conditioning in a Subset of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients.
Ashok Gupta MA (Cantab), MSc
University of Cambridge

SUMMARY: I propose here a novel hypothesis for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). ME/CFS may be a neurophysiological disorder focusing on the amygdala. During a “traumatic” neurological event often involving acute psychological stress combined with a viral infection or other chemical or physiological stressor, a conditioned network or “cell assembly” may be created in the amygdala. The unconscious amygdala may become conditioned to be chronically sensitised to negative symptoms arising from the body. Negative signals from the viscera or physiological, chemical and dietary stressors, become conditioned stimuli, and the conditioned response is a chronic sympathetic outpouring from the amygdala via various brain pathways including the hypothalamus.

This cell assembly then produces the ME/CFS vicious circle, where an unconscious negative reaction to symptoms causes immune reactivation/dysfunction, chronic sympathetic stimulation leading to sympathetic dysfunction, mental and physical exhaustion, and a host of other distressing symptoms and secondary complications. And these are exactly the symptoms that the amygdala and associated limbic structures are trained to monitor and respond to, perpetuating a vicious circle. Recovery from ME/CFS may involve projections from the medial prefrontal cortex to the amygdala, to control the amygdala’s expressions.

Email: [email protected]
Web: www.guptaprogram.com*

I shall firstly discuss predisposing, precipitating, and perpetuating factors involved in the possible etiology of chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), followed by the patient’s experience of the illness. Finally, I shall look at a suggested explanation for the symptoms of ME/CFS…read the full paper

*As of January 25, 2010, Planet Thrive is participating in an affiliate program for the Gupta Amygdala Retraining Programme™ after observing over 30 members of the Planet Thrive Gupta Support Group, who reported many benefits over several months time.

Author

Earthwalker

Earthwalker is the username that PT founder Julie Genser created for her online interactions so many years ago when first creating Planet Thrive.

Julie's (Earthwalker's) life was derailed over twenty years ago when she had a very large organic mercury exposure after she naively used a mouth thermometer to measure the temperature of just-boiled milk while making her very first pizza at home. The mercury instantly expanded into a gas form and exploded out the back of the thermometer right into her face. Unaware that mercury was the third most neurotoxic element on Earth, Julie had no idea she had just received a very high dose of a poisonous substance.

A series of subsequent toxic exposures over the next few years -- to smoke from two fires (including 9/11), toxic mold, lyme disease, and chemical injuries -- caused catastrophic damage to her health. While figuring out how to survive day-to-day, and often minute-to-minute, she created Planet Thrive to help others avoid some of the misdiagnoses and struggles she had experienced.

She has clawed her way over many health mountains to get to where she is today. She is excited to bring the latest iteration of Planet Thrive to the chronic illness community.

In 2019, Julie published her very first cookbook e-book called Low Lectin Lunches (+ Dinners, Too!) after discovering how a low lectin, gluten free diet was helping manage her chronic fascia/muscle pain.
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