Both animal and human studies support a role for the amygdala in fear. Some of these studies also support the notion that the amygdala can influence information processing in more subtle activation states, compared to fear. I w ill present fMRI studies of the normal human amygdala aimed at addressing whether i t is useful to consider the amygdala as part of a more subtle, constant vigilance system invoked in biologically relevant learning situations. Such a framework might offer novel ways to think about the potential role of the amygdala in the anxiety disorders.