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It is thought that the human amygdala is a critical component of the neural substrates of emotional experience, involved particularly in the generation of fear, anxiety, and general negative affectivity. Although many neuroimaging studies demonstrate findings consistent this notion, little evidence of altered emotional experience following amygdala damage has been gathered in humans. In a preliminary test of the amygdala's role in phenomenal affective states, we assessed the extent of experienced positive and negative affective states in patients with amygdala damage and age-, sex-, and education-matched controls. To assess chronic changes in experienced affect, all groups were administered the Positive and Negative Affect Schedules (PANAS, Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). In the first study, we examined the effects of amygdala lesions on affective traits in 10 left and 10 right amygdala-damaged patients, 1 …