Dear Colleagues,

The amygdala has generally become regarded as the center of emotion in the limbic system. It plays a well-established role in fear memory and is important in the forebrain regulation of the stress response. It is an important mediator of the effects of emotion, fearful memories and stress on arousal and sleep, and also appears to function in the regulation of physiological sleep. However, altered amygdala functioning is implicated in a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders. These factors suggest that the amygdala is a critical mediator of interactions between stress, emotion and sleep that have significance for both normal function and psychopathology. Despite these advances in understanding, many questions regarding the amygdala’s role remain; accordingly, this Special Issue will focus on amygdala regulation of the association between sleep and emotion. We welcome empirical contributions at the neurocircuit, mechanism and functional levels as well as reviews that address its role at both basic neurobiological and clinical levels.

Dr. Larry D. Sanford and Laurie L. Wellman
Guest Editors