Petrified or Aroused with Fear: The Central Amygdala Takes the Lead

The behavioral expression of fear ranges from active, cognitive responses to passive, freezing-like reactions. In this issue of Neuron, Gozzi, Jain, and colleagues suggest that neurons in the central amygdala orchestrate output signals toward either the brainstem or cholinergic basal forebrain and thereby can shift fear reactions from passive to active